Led · Series A · Oct 2024

Winich Farms operates a platform that connects rural farmers to off-takers (retailers and informal processors) via agent-run collection points and a mobile app where retailers place orders that agents fulfill within 24–72 hours. The company negotiates fair prices with farmers, sells to off-takers at a slight markup (currently ₦720 per kg of paddy rice excluding delivery), and splits revenue among farmers, agents, and the company. It processes monthly orders up to ₦3.7 billion (~$2.2M) and reports a GMV of $30 million, with agent count growing from about 1,000 in 2022 to over 4,000 in early 2024. Winich says it serves more than 150,000 users across farmers, agents, and truck drivers and provides credit access by linking farmers who complete supply cycles to financial partners. The company issues Verve cards to underbanked farmers in partnership with Sterling Bank and plans to issue 195,000 cards in the coming months. To reduce delivery times to distant states, Winich will establish regional fulfillment centres across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones and invest in technology and card operations to scale. Winich Farms operates a farm-to-retailer agritech platform that connects food producers (farmers) directly to off-takers such as small retailers and factories, cutting out excessive middlemen. The platform resolves transactions and settlements within 24 hours and uses a hybrid offline-online model—USSD, SMS, collection-centre agents and a mobile app—to onboard less tech-savvy farmers. The mobile app, launched in June, adds in-platform real-time driver tracking, inventory planning, and payment options; the company is also developing a buy-now-pay-later credit product and plans to provide inventory insurance. As of Jan 2022 Winich reports over 29,000 active food producers, the capacity to move 127 tonnes of produce every 24 hours, and $17.1 million in transaction volume across 461 agents/collection centres. The platform services 500+ retail groups and informal processors across eight cities and has created jobs for hundreds of truck drivers while aiming to reduce food waste and improve food quality and distribution efficiency at affordable costs.

Led · Equity · Jun 2024

IBISA develops and operates parametric insurance solutions using satellite data analytics and actuarial risk modeling to insure against weather-related events. Its product suite includes agricultural-focused covers, typhoon insurance, loan protection for financial institutions, and a heat-stress product initially for dairy farmers. The company has placed special emphasis on India after establishing a local presence there in 2023 and is expanding the heat-stress product to countries such as Bangladesh. IBISA says its offerings make insurance more accessible and affordable for climate-vulnerable communities across Asia and Africa. The company recently closed a funding round that management says will enable product development and further geographic expansion. Management describes the next phase as an industrialisation stage to amplify product offerings and scale into new emerging markets. IBISA builds weather-focused microinsurance for low-income small farmers, using index-based (parametric) payouts triggered by catastrophic weather events. Its product relies on satellite (orbit) imagery and crowdsourced data from local "watchers" to assess damage and trigger quick, collective payouts that reduce claims-processing costs. The startup also incorporates blockchain (its name stands for Inclusive Blockchain Insurance Using Space Assets) and was accelerated by the EU's Block.IS project to keep operating costs low. Since founding in 2019 and based in Luxembourg, IBISA has worked with partners in the Philippines, India and Niger and follows a partnership-based distribution model with mutuals, insurers, microfinance institutions, research institutions, farmers and breeders associations and governments. It plans to use the new seed funding to hire and expand its presence in existing and new markets. The approach aims to make agricultural insurance commercially viable by lowering operating costs and simplifying claims for farmers.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2024

Founded in 2013 by Samir Ibrahim and Charlie Nichols, SunCulture designs, manufactures, and distributes solar-powered water pumps that replace costly diesel and manual irrigation methods for smallholder farmers. The company couples its hardware with a pay-as-you-grow financing model, lowering the upfront cost barrier and making the technology accessible to low-income users. To date, more than 45,000 smallholder farmers have adopted SunCulture’s solutions, improving crop yields while gaining reliable access to clean water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. Revenue and user figures beyond this adoption metric were not disclosed, but the firm positions itself at the intersection of climate resilience, agriculture, and clean energy. With fresh capital, SunCulture plans to strengthen manufacturing and distribution operations and to expand into additional African markets, including Uganda, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Togo. The company also intends to refine its financing products to make solar irrigation even more affordable, aligning its growth with broader goals of water security and food sustainability across the region.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2024

Ampersand operates a vertically integrated Battery-as-a-Service model for motorcycle taxi riders, combining proprietary battery packs, management software, and a network of battery-swap stations. The company manages over 8,000 batteries that power more than 6,000 electric motorcycles, enabling over 20,000 battery swaps daily and covering more than 900,000 km each day. Ampersand says its electric motorcycles can double a rider’s take-home earnings versus petrol models and outsell competitors by 9-to-1 in Kigali and 4-to-1 in Nairobi. It reports 99% of its batteries remain active after 18 months and a customer revenue retention rate exceeding 100%. The company aims to double its battery fleet by early 2026 and to expand its swap-station network across East Africa. Ampersand has reached profitability in Kenya and is collaborating with BYD to accelerate battery production and development. Ampersand assembles and finances electric motorcycles tailored to motorcycle taxi markets in East Africa. Founded in 2016 and based in Kigali, the company launched commercially in May 2019 and its fleet grew to over 1,000 members. By late 2024 it anticipates surpassing 10,000 members. Ampersand describes its made-in-Africa battery fleet as leading the world in cost per km and uptime for light-electric vehicles; its motorcycles are less expensive to purchase and operate than gasoline counterparts. The company raised $19.5M in a debt and equity financing to support operations, which also includes a $7.5M debt facility. Management says the funding will allow it to deliver thousands more electric motorcycles in the coming months as government e-mobility policies and the removal of fuel subsidies expand the addressable market.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2023

Aquarech is a Kenyan agri-tech startup that supplies high-quality extruded floating pelleted fish feed with better feed conversion ratios to small and medium-sized fish farmers. It pairs this feed with a credit platform and market linkages to help farmers access financing and customers. The company says these interventions will transition farmers to profitability and create jobs for women and young people in rural areas. Village Capital invested US$350,000 in Aquarech through its Reducing Inequalities Investment Facility, which is backed by the FMO’s MASSIF Fund. Co-founder and CEO Dave Okech emphasized bringing better feed directly to farmers' doorsteps supported by credit and market linkages. Village Capital highlighted Aquarech's alignment with climate resilience and economic mobility as reasons for the investment. Aquarech operates a mobile app platform that enables producers, farmers, and buyers to trade, buy, and sell high-quality fish feed while accessing best practices to increase incomes. The company offers high-quality feed, climate-smart precision fish feeding methods, market access, technical training, and a 90-day feed credit financing option. Its stated goals are to boost productivity, improve the financial situation of small-scale farmers, and expand Kenya’s aquaculture sector. Aquarech was founded in 2019 and is led by CEO and founder Dave Okech, alongside co-founders James Odede and Joseph Okoth. The startup raised $1.7 million in equity capital to facilitate deeper vertical integration of its technology. It plans to use the funds to hire talent, acquire more data, and set up infrastructure to grow its mobile-enabled platform.