This marks the second investment by the impact investor in the agri-tech space in Kenya after funding B2B start-up Taimba in July this year and is the fifth African start-up added to its portfolio which includes Rwanda’s ARED, Ghana’s Redbird Health Tech and Nigeria’s Sonocare in the last two years.
The funds raised will be used to hire and train personnel, including field agents, and to further
develop the platform to connect the agriculture ecosystem.
“Farmshine’s platform was designed with a farmer-first approach. It can be easily replicated for any value chain in any country, and can scale from thousands to hundreds of thousands of farmers.” said Luca Alinovi, Farmshine’s Founder & CEO.
Farmshine’s agriculture operating system enables smallholder farmers to aggregate and sell their harvests directly to large commodity companies.
Combined with on-the-ground support from Farmshine’s field officers, the mobile app ensures that farmers are offered clear, fair and reliable contracts from legitimate buyers. Every activity takes place through the app – including contract agreement, production management, crop aggregation, and delivery and payment – ensuring full transparency among each party.
“Women are often excluded from the formal economy in Kenya, and it is difficult for them to find better opportunities or higher paying work. Farmshine’s platform enables women, who constitute 70% of its farmers, to receive significantly higher incomes by providing access to completely transparent pricing information before they plant, as well as the freedom to select the buyer they would like to supply to.” said Jennifer Soltis, Portfolio Manager – coLABS, Gray Matters Capital.
Farmshine’s agriculture operating system can also be used by UN, NGOs and commercial organizations to manage their agricultural activities. This includes the registration, training and management of smallholder farmers; monitoring of crop growth and field activities throughout the growing season; early warning of plant pests and diseases; and aggregation and sale to large commodity companies.
