The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Jan 2024

Good Nature Agro is a for-profit social enterprise founded in 2014 that works with small-scale farmers across southern Africa. It supplies high-quality legume seed and commodities and provides finance and training to help farmers increase incomes and transition from poverty toward the middle class. The company describes itself as tech-enabled while valuing personal, face-to-face relationships in the fields and factories. Good Nature engages the full value chain—connecting growers, aggregators, processors and consumers—to keep farmers at the center of agricultural supply chains. It closed an $8.5 million Series B equity financing to support growth and deepen farmer engagement. The company plans to use the capital to reintegrate whole farm income, develop genetic solutions for greater yields and resilience, and pursue farmer-centric innovations. Good Nature Agro Products (GNA) works with approximately 30,000 smallholders to produce seeds for replanting and commodities for consumption or processing across four legumes: groundnut, cowpea, soybean, and beans. The company focuses on open-pollinated varieties and seed research to adapt varieties to local terroirs and smallholder needs. GNA’s activities aim to improve soil fertility through legume cultivation and increase access to nutritious, protein-rich foods. The enterprise plans to expand processing capacity by building a new factory in Lusaka while strengthening seed production and R&D at its historical headquarters in Chipata, Eastern Zambia. The expansion is intended to stabilize domestic supply, open export markets, create jobs, and reinforce the local value chain. GNA was founded in 2014 and positions legume value chains as a pathway to higher-value, export-driven agriculture for Zambian farmers. Good Nature Agro is a Zambian agritech social enterprise that develops and supplies legume seed varieties and provides full-farm services to smallholder farmers. The company uses a 'Source' model that supplies high-quality seeds on loan, deploys Private Extension Agents (PEAs), offers customised input packages, guaranteed offtake contracts, and financial planning. GNA aims to support 15,000 small-scale farmers and reports participating growers earn three to four times more than when farming maize, with claims it can triple incomes within 24 months. The startup plans to use new capital to build value-add processing infrastructure in central and eastern Zambia, expand full-farm extension services, connect farmers to large agribusinesses and food processors, and advance its seed breeding program. Its model emphasizes improved land health via legumes, increased soil fertility, and predictable, well-documented cash flows for farmers while maintaining personalised advisory services as it scales.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2022

Turaco is a Kenya-based insurtech that distributes white-labeled life, asset, medical and vehicle insurance via a B2B2C model and API integrations. It partners with PayGo firms (e.g., M-KOPA), ride-hailing platforms (SafeBoda), fintechs and microfinance institutions to bundle insurance into core products. Policies can be sold from as low as $0.2 and the company reports over half a million customers, 268,000 of whom are active, with user growth of 300% since 2020. Turaco operates in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria and says its distribution-driven approach produces conversion rates north of 50% in its partnerships. The company is in a growth phase and is pursuing more partnerships and large-brand collaborations to scale adoption. Co-founder and CEO Ted Pantone has articulated a long-term ambition to insure one billion people over 25 years and an intermediate goal of 100 million. Turaco provides affordable health and life microinsurance, with packages available for as little as R31.41 (~$2) on flexible monthly payment plans. The company is operational in Kenya and Uganda and claims to have insured over 70,000 individuals and paid nearly 2,000 claims with an average turnaround under three working days. Turaco partners with local businesses to design and distribute products and aims to expand distribution across Sub‑Saharan Africa. The startup plans to use new funding to upscale operations, develop proprietary technology, and create employment as it grows. Turaco’s leadership has articulated a long-term vision to insure a billion people over the next 25 years. Launched in 2008, Turaco offers life and health insurance products with monthly premiums as low as $2, distributed via partnerships with local companies and mobile lending organisations. The company uses a subscription model that enables consumers to opt in for automated medical policy renewals bundled with existing payments. Turaco says it has insured more than 30,000 users in Kenya and Uganda. It maintains offices in Nairobi and Atlanta and was founded by Ted Pantone and Peter Gross. Previously the startup received non-equity accelerator support of roughly $50,000–$60,000 from the Catalyst Fund and a $40,000 grant from Villgro Kenya. Turaco plans to use new funding to scale operations across Africa, cement presence in new markets, and further develop pilots and partnerships with businesses and fintech companies, targeting entry into one or two new East and West African markets next year.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2020

Sun King bundles solar generation hardware, energy-efficient appliances, installation services and consumer financing to deliver reliable electricity in regions with limited or no grid access. The company’s product line spans low-cost solar kits for lighting and phone charging up to multi-kilowatt inverter systems capable of powering homes, clinics, farms and commercial facilities. Since 2007, it has distributed 29 million solar products worldwide, with 67% of customers gaining electricity access for the first time, and it has extended $1.4 billion in consumer financing through its pay-as-you-go model that lowers daily energy costs to roughly $0.15–$0.20. Sun King currently sells about 330,000 solar kits per month through a network of 470 retail shops and 35,000 field agents operating in 11 African countries. Future plans include deploying 50 million additional solar kits and reaching 200 million people by 2030 while scaling its shop footprint to 1,650 locations and doubling its agent base to 90,000. The firm also intends to introduce higher-capacity solar systems, clean-cooking technologies, smartphones, refrigerators, and other productive-use appliances, targeting 3.8 GW of new distributed solar capacity by decade’s end.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2018

Tulaa operates an end-to-end mobile and AI-driven platform that enables smallholder farmers to access inputs, credit, and offtake markets while connecting suppliers, buyers, banks, NGOs, co-ops, and commodity buyers. The platform helps input suppliers aggregate demand and build brand loyalty, aids banks in expanding loan portfolios and assessing credit risk with data, and lets buyers source quality produce and reduce cash handling via mobile money. Tulaa spun out of Esoko in July 2017 and has amassed 10,000 farmers on the platform; the company is already generating revenue. Management cites ecosystem complexity as a primary challenge and works with enterprise partners such as Syngenta and OCP to align incentives. Proceeds from the recent round will be used to expand services to more agro-vet retailers, traders, and markets across Kenya and to continue development of the technology platform, especially its AI applications. The company positions itself as a platform to improve crop yields and sales for smallholders while delivering investor returns.