Twiga Foods has secured a 1-billion-shilling investment from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, TLcom, and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).
The investment was co-led by IFC and TLcom, a Pan-African venture capital firm, with participation from previous investors Wamda Capital, DOB Equity, 1776 and Adolph H.Lundin.
As part of the deal, Wale Ayeni, who leads IFC’s venture capital activities in Africa, and Maurizio Caio, Managing Partner at TLcom will join the board.
The Twiga Foods platform uses mobile phone technology to match supply and demand, aggregating market participants and finding buyers for farmers’ produce in Africa’s large, but highly fragmented fruit and vegetable market.
Twiga’s m-commerce platform enables vendors to order fresh produce, as and when needed, from farmers across Kenya. The system is a win for both sides – farmers have guaranteed access to a fairly-priced, transparent, mobile marketplace while vendors can consistently source high-quality produce, which is conveniently delivered for free to their doorstep by Twiga.
By increasing efficiency in the supply chain, Twiga is able to reduce waste and ultimately reduce food prices for end consumers.
“The IFC and TLcom investment will enable us to reach more farmers, improve efficiency in service delivery and increase access to high-quality produce and foodstuffs for vendors. We will continue in our mission to provide affordable, quality, and safe food to Kenya’s urban consumers, and reliable markets for farmers across the country,” said Grant Brooke, CEO Twiga Foods.
Twiga will use the new investment to expand operations and offer new services. Since it launched operations in 2014, Twiga has grown to work with over 13,000 farmers and 6,000 vendors in Kenya. The company initially started off matching vendors to banana farmers, but now works with other produce such as tomatoes, cabbage, mango, potato and onion. Farmers who sign up with Twiga receive payment within 24 hours.
The company operates collection centers across the country, in addition to a central pack house with cold storage facilities, and mobilized trucks and vans for swift collection and distribution of produce. The smooth logistics system limits Twiga’s post-harvest losses to five percent, as compared to 30 percent at informal markets, where farmers typically sell produce.
IFC supports the mobile technology sector to help promote social inclusion and business growth. Over the past three years, IFC has invested over $1.5 billion in telecommunication, technology, and startup companies globally.