Complete
Farmer has secured a $10.4
million pre-Series A funding round ($7 million equity and $3.4 million debt) to
boost its
operations in Ghana and enhance efficiency in the agricultural value chain.
The Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and Alitheia
Capital (via its uMunthu II Fund in partnership with Goodwell Investments)
co-led the equity part of the round, with the participation of Proparco, Newton
Partners and VestedWorld Rising Star Fund.
Sahel Capital’s SEFAA (Social Enterprise
Fund for Agriculture in Africa) Fund, Alpha Mundi Group’s Alpha Jiri Investment
Fund and Global Social Impact Investments also provided debt financing.
According to the Managing Director of ARAF,
Tamer El-Raghy in a statement “We
have been impressed with the progress that Complete Farmer has made in
facilitating access to global trade for Ghanaian farmers, as well as
introducing them to new crops and sustainable farming practices.”
“Complete
Farmer’s technology platform and farming protocols enable farmers to access
quality inputs, agronomical support and premium markets, resulting in improved
yields and income as reported by the farmers themselves,” he
added.
Complete Farmer is an end-to-end
agricultural marketplace that connects African producers and global industries
to competitive markets, resources, data and each other.
The platform is a comprehensive one-stop
resource that leverages proprietary cultivation protocols for crop production,
enabling smallholder and commercial farmers to cultivate commodities that
conform to global market specifications, thereby ensuring post-harvest offtake.
Launch in 2017, Complete Farmer has
provided producers and agricultural commodity purchasers with two primary
solutions: CF Grower and CF Buyer. Its farmer-centric product, CF Grower,
assists African farmers in optimizing their productivity, gaining access to
global markets, and enhancing their living standards through precision farming
instruments and data-driven cultivation protocols.
CF Buyer, on the other hand, provides global purchasers
with dependable and convenient access to commodities grown to their
specifications. On the platform, buyers have access to a vast network of
qualified producers, can obtain quality-certified items through a streamlined
digital process and can monitor the progress of their orders from order to
fulfillment transparently, giving them complete control over their procurement
process.
By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
