Shamba Pride, a Kenyan agritech startup, raised $3.7 million in debt-equity pre-series A funding to boost its Kenyan operations and grow its merchant network.
Participating in the round were Seedstars Africa Ventures (SAV) and EDFI AgriFI, the European Union’s agriculture financing project. An equity of $1.7 million is part of the funding.
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Shamba Pride, an ecosystem for agricultural trading, was founded in 2016 by CEO Samuel Munguti.
The platform provides agricultural input distributors, sometimes known as “agro-dealers,” with an online-to-offline platform that enables them to better equip farmers with high-quality agricultural products, services, and information.
According to Mumguti, agro-dealers have a big impact on how agriculture is distributed in rural regions, affecting farmers’ access to resources including training, services, and input.
Through its USSD platform, the agritech company offers farmer market connectivity, financial services for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), and training materials.
Over 60,000 farmers and 2,700 agri-retailers have been recruited by the agritech, which is currently operating in 24 counties across Kenya, accounting for more than half of the country. In the next year, the firm hopes to expand into more retail locations and agricultural regions in Kenya.
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As such, the company intends to investigate nearby countries like as Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia to address similar supply chain constraints related to farm inputs, including sourcing, unpredictable pricing, quality problems, and stockouts.
To fund its statewide expansion and distribute its solution to more than 1000 retailers, the company raised $1.1 million from Seedstars Africa Ventures and Gray Matters Capital more than two years ago.
