Led · Equity · Jul 2024

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.

Led · Equity · Jul 2024

Aquarech provides a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) solution for fish feed alongside training and precision-agriculture tools to help fish farmers learn best practices and improve incomes. The company serves both B2B and B2C customers in Kenya. Aquarech received a $350,000 investment as part of Village Capital’s Reducing Inequalities Investment Facility. Village Capital is a global nonprofit focused on early-stage investment. The investment was made amid broader activity in African agtech, where startups are bridging gaps between farmers, consumers, and businesses. The funding is part of a wider $850,000 deployment to two startups by Village Capital’s facility.

Led · Equity · Feb 2024

Mighty Finance is a Zambian fintech focused on providing access to capital for primarily women-led businesses. The company was selected for a pilot financing facility run in partnership between Village Capital and Standard Chartered Bank under the bank’s Women in Tech initiative. As part of that pilot, Mighty Finance raised US $75,000 from the facility. The initiative targets impact-focused, early-stage startups founded by women to help close the gender financing gap. Village Capital and Standard Chartered describe the facility as a way to deliver catalytic financing tailored to the needs of women entrepreneurs and to boost participation of women founders. Standard Chartered highlighted that its Women in Tech program has trained over 70 women-led businesses, providing additional support beyond capital.

Participated · Seed · May 2023

Grapefruit Health builds a remote-work solution aimed at addressing the healthcare workforce shortage. The company announced it recently hit its one-year mark and is continuing to develop and scale its offering. It raised a $1.3 million pre-seed round that was 30% oversubscribed, providing early capital to expand operations. Investors in the round include Antler, GoAhead Ventures, Hustle Fund, Litquidity Capital, LongJump, SUM Ventures, Sweater, and Everywhere Ventures (The Fund). The company also received grants from Google for Startups, Village Capital, Rhetoric, and P33 Chicago, and credits mentorship from TechRise Chicago. Leadership frames the raise as the start of growth toward fixing healthcare staffing challenges.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2021

Founded in 2020 by husband-and-wife team Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat, Chari began as a mobile marketplace enabling corner shops to procure fast-moving consumer goods directly from distributors. The company has since evolved toward a banking-as-a-service model, using its recently obtained payment-institution licence from Bank Al-Maghrib to embed digital payments, credit, and other financial tools inside its merchant app. More than 20,000 small retailers across Morocco, Tunisia, and Côte d’Ivoire now use Chari’s platform, making it one of the region’s largest informal-retail digitisation plays. With a “super app” approach, Chari aims to transform these mom-and-pop stores into grassroots financial access points for underbanked communities. Future plans include opening its in-house financial rails to third-party developers, positioning the startup as a regional fintech enabler across Francophone Africa. To date, Chari has raised roughly $17 million in venture funding, which supports both its commerce logistics operations and the build-out of its fintech infrastructure.