Winich Farms, a Nigerian Agtech startup making the supply chain of farm produce seamless for all stakeholders, has secured $3 million in pre-series A funding to enhance its technology and optimize its operations.
According to the startup, the round is a mix of $2.5 million equity and $590,000 debt.
The equity funding of $2.5 million came from Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (a East and West Africa focused impact venture capital fund ), Climate Resilient Africa Fund, Marula Square, Plug and Play, and Tekedia Capita. Lagos-based Sahel Capital supplied the $590,000 debt funding.
The company’s operations
Since launching in 2020, Winich Farms has built an ecosystem of more than 150,000 users, including farmers, off-takers (small businesses and factories), logistics partners, and collection points agents.
- The company provides off-takers with inventory management tools that help them order and manage raw materials from farmers across Nigeria.
- This is possible through the thousands of farm produce collection points that Winichfarm has accumulated across 30 out of the 36 states in Nigeria.
- Winich Farms is also helping smallholder farmers, who don’t have immediate access to the financial system, build their credit worthiness, by tracking and ranking their earnings over time and then connecting them to its financial institution partners.
- It recently launched a debit card in partnership with Sterling Bank, allowing farmers to save their funds in the bank with the certainty that they could get it whenever they want.
- The company’s GMV has grown 300% from $10 million in 2022 to $30 million at the end of the 2023 financial year. Last month, the company expanded into Tanzania to facilitate — not just local supply chains — but exportation into the Middle East and Europe.
Help for smallholder farmers in Nigeria
Commenting on the funding, Richies Attai, CEO and co-founder, said Winich Farms is more than just a profit oriented business, but a cause at heart improving the lives of smallholder farmers, informal processors, and retailers.
“This funding is strategic towards further enhancing our technology infrastructure making it more user friendly, while advancing our data driven approach in enhancing the farmers ability to access financially inclusive services like credit and insurance to increase productivity, while scaling operations to accommodate our expansion plans,” he stated.
Also commenting, Tamer El-Raghy, Managing Director of Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF), said:
“Investing in Winich aligns with our goal at ARAF of growing local businesses that support smallholder farmers towards increased productivity, sustainable agricultural development, better livelihoods, and increased food security”
What you should know
Smallholder farmers face multiple bottlenecks along the value chain, limiting their productivity and access to markets, which in turn hinders their income potential and growth.
Winich’s technology not only connects rural farmers directly to buyers, it also connects them to financial products, towards providing them with access financing to facilitate increased production capacity.
