Participated · Series B · Jun 2023

Yellow offers access to renewable energy products and smartphones on customer-friendly terms and is focused on scaling those businesses across Africa. The company reports it has served more than 1 million customers across seven African countries and plans additional market expansion. Its smartphone business has more than doubled year-on-year, and broader sales rates continue to grow. Yellow is investing in the infrastructure needed to serve millions more customers and accelerate commercial growth. The company frames its work as increasing impact across the continent while continuing to scale quickly.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2022

Nile operates a B2B platform that onboards and vets fresh-produce suppliers (including small- and large-scale farmers) and lets buyers browse a live catalog, place orders, and pay through the platform. The company provides logistics via third-party providers and runs a cross-docking warehouse in Johannesburg, offering delivery or hub pickup options. Nile charges farmers a commission (claimed to be significantly lower than traditional intermediaries) and levies service fees to buyers. The startup says it has facilitated the trade of around 30 million kilograms of fruits and vegetables to date. It is already operating in 35 cities and towns across South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Namibia. Following the raise, Nile plans expansion beyond Southern Africa into Eastern and Western African markets.

Participated · Series B · Jan 2021

Aerobotics builds AI-driven tools that combine aerial and tree imagery with analytics to provide yield estimations, harvest schedules and crop-health assessments for fruit and tree farmers. The platform uses drones, other robotics and machine learning to identify sick trees, track pests and diseases, and deliver actionable farm- and orchard-level insights. The company says it has the largest proprietary dataset of trees and citrus fruit, having processed 81 million trees and more than a million citrus fruit. Aerobotics is based in Cape Town, was founded in 2014, and maintains offices in the U.S., Australia and Portugal while operating in 18 countries. The U.S. is its primary market and the company has two provisional U.S. patent filings for systems and methods to estimate tree age and predict yield. It plans to use the Series B proceeds to continue developing technology and product delivery for the U.S. and other markets.