Led · Convertible Note · Dec 2023

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.

Participated · Series C · Nov 2021

Twiga operates a B2B e-commerce marketplace that reduces intermediaries in the agricultural supply chain to lower food costs for consumers. The company connects fresh-food growers, FMCG manufacturers and informal retailers via technology to create a more efficient, transparent distribution network. Twiga has repeatedly raised capital over several years and is described as one of Africa’s best-funded digital firms. It plans to expand across the remainder of East Africa in the coming months and enter West Africa in 2022. The company is funding a proof-of-concept to cultivate its own fresh produce using precision agriculture and satellite imaging, aiming to start selling horticulture commodities across East Africa in February 2022. Twiga is also working with development finance partners to replicate the off-taker model as a separate business and will deploy low-cost, Twiga-branded manufactured goods by the end of 2021.