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 · Debt Financing · Sep 2023

Complete Farmer uses digital technology to build a more efficient agricultural supply chain for smallholder farmers in West Africa. The company offers a digital platform that connects more than 12,000 smallholder farmers directly to global food buyers and agricultural input suppliers. It also invests in the infrastructure required to strengthen the agricultural value chain and address issues such as limited market access, fragmented value chains, and inconsistent product quality. Founded in 2017, Complete Farmer aims to overcome these obstacles and boost agricultural expertise for its farmers. The firm is pursuing innovation and productivity improvements to provide smallholders with more stable incomes and stronger rural livelihoods. Recently it received a $5m (€4.3m) debt investment to support these efforts. Complete Farmer operates an end-to-end agricultural marketplace that links thousands of Ghanaian smallholder and commercial farmers to global buyers via two products: CF Grower (farmer-facing precision farming and cultivation protocols) and CF Buyer (buyer-facing procurement and quality-certified sourcing). The company leverages proprietary cultivation protocols and precision tools to help farmers meet global commodity specifications and reduce post-harvest losses. Since launching in 2017, Complete Farmer says it has organized over 12,000 farmers across five regions and overseen cultivation on more than 30,000 acres, taking a 30% commission on trade profits. The business has eight fulfillment centers in Ghana and plans to expand domestic operations and open centers in markets such as Togo. New product lines under development include an embedded finance remittance product and a vendor platform for inputs; management intends to use equity funding to scale products, form strategic partnerships, and grow the team. The company will use the debt facility for CAPEX and working capital to expand fulfillment capacity. Complete Farmer operates an agribusiness marketplace focused on Ghana’s under‑financed and under‑resourced smallholder farmers. The platform seeks to boost smallholders by linking them to buyers, financing and aggregation services. The company used a $50,000 cash prize from a pitch competition to help scale its operations to the point where venture funding became an option. Last March Complete Farmer secured a $400,000 seed round backed by Africa‑focused venture fund Ingressive Capital. The startup’s fundraising occurred amid a broader scarcity of agrifoodtech capital in Ghana, where agrifoodtech received only about $3 million of the roughly $160 million invested across Africa in the prior year. No operating metrics or revenues were disclosed in the article.

Led · Series B · Oct 2022

MoKo Home + Living produces and sells home furniture — best known for its MoKo mattress — across digital and offline channels. The company has invested in automated woodworking equipment and recycling technology to improve precision, cut waste and scale production. MoKo says it has grown five-fold over the past three years and its products are in more than 370,000 homes in Kenya. It plans to expand its product line to cover major household furniture (bed frames, TV stands, coffee tables, carpets) and develop more affordable sofas and mattresses. The funding will be used to scale production, buy more equipment, grow online channels and deepen partnerships with retail outlets. MoKo targets entry into three new markets by 2025 and emphasizes climate-friendly local production as a commercial advantage.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2018

Twiga sources fresh produce directly from farmers and supplies it to urban retailers and food vendors through a B2B distribution platform. The company operates an asset-light model and has shifted its commercial approach, replacing an in-house sales force with independent sales contractors. In 2023 Twiga cut about 30% of its staff as part of that transformation. The business has been cash-strapped and faced supplier pressure, including a creditor (Incentro) that sought liquidation proceedings to recover unpaid bills. Twiga has raised more than $150 million in equity and debt since 2017, with roughly $80 million of that raised in the last three years after co-founder Grant Brooke’s departure. Investors named in coverage include Genevieve Capital, Creadev, Juven, AHL Venture Partners, and Omidyar Networks. Twiga Foods has launched Twiga Fresh, a new arm focused on contemporary and commercial farming to deliver low‑cost, high‑quality, safe food to informal shops and urban customers. The company announced a $10 million investment to expand efficient production of native horticultural staples including onions, tomatoes, and watermelons, aimed at dramatically lowering costs. Twiga Fresh will be financed in the long run by debt in collaboration with Development Financial Institutions, with emphasis on primary agriculture and food security. Twiga Foods says it will continue engaging smallholder farmers for established local value chains such as bananas while managing its B2B e‑commerce operations. The group’s goal is to create a one‑stop supply‑chain solution for informal retailers offering both Twiga and non‑Twiga products and a growing range of private‑label items. CEO and co‑founder Peter Njonjo stated Twiga Fresh will drive client growth and larger basket sizes by selling quality products at discounts versus prevailing market rates, and the investment aims to make Kenya one of Africa’s largest single horticultural farms focused on the domestic market. Twiga Foods operates a technology-driven B2B platform that links farmers, FMCG manufacturers and informal retailers to streamline food and retail distribution. Founded in 2014 and based in Kenya, it began by connecting vendors and outlets with farmers and later added FMCG distribution to grow revenue. The company reports over 100,000 customers, delivers more than 600 metric tons of product to 10,000+ retailers daily, and employs over 1,000 people. Twiga has raised more than $100 million in debt and equity financing to date and says it quadrupled revenues in the pandemic period between April (the prior year) and August 2021. To address traceability and food-safety challenges it plans to selectively own parts of certain value chains and integrate large commercial farms alongside smallholder suppliers. Twiga is testing a proof of concept to produce alternative foods that could cut consumer prices by over 30%, plans to roll out low-cost manufactured food and non-food products under its brand, and is expanding into Uganda and Tanzania before targeting additional West and Central African markets. Twiga Foods operates a B2B supply-chain platform that aggregates produce from farmers and delivers to informal retail outlets using a mobile app and M-Pesa for payments. The company has diversified from primarily agricultural goods to a roughly 50/50 mix between FMCG and fresh produce. It serves around 3,000 outlets a day and works with about 17,000 farmers and 8,000 vendors, and has reduced post-harvest losses on its network from 30% to 4%. Twiga plans to use new funds to set up a distribution center in Nairobi, expand into more Kenyan cities including Mombasa, and pursue Pan-African expansion, targeting French West Africa by Q3 2020. Founded in 2014 and based in Nairobi, the company is positioning its existing volume and revenue flow from produce as a foundation to add other product categories and supply-chain services. Twiga Foods is a Nairobi-based mobile B2B distribution platform that aggregates the requirements of informal retailers through an m-commerce platform and leverages this to efficiently source produce directly from farmers and food manufacturers. The platform is designed to streamline sourcing and distribution across its ecosystem of farmers and retailers. Twiga was founded in 2014 by Peter Njonjo and Grant Brooke; Peter Njonjo is now the company’s CEO (Brooke served as CEO until earlier this year). The company announced a $5M investment from French investor Creadev to support growth of its farmer and retailer ecosystem. The transaction involved some early investors selling portions of their initial stakes to accommodate later-stage and longer-term investors. Crunchbase estimates the deal brings Twiga’s total disclosed venture capital raised to $35M, and the company has an IFC partnership to boost food safety practices and traceability.