Kenyan B2B agri-tech startup Taimba, which operates a mobile-based cashless platform connecting rural smallholder farmers to urban retailers, has raised US$100,000 in funding to strengthen its infrastructure and increase delivery logistics to cater to new markets.
Taimba sources agricultural products directly from farmers and delivers directly to informal greengrocers, schools, hospitals and restaurants within Nairobi, removing the middlemen and shrinking the agricultural value chain.
It currently has over 2,000 farmers in its portfolio, and engages with 15 farmer savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) selling produce such as potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages and carrots on one side. On the other side, it has more than 300 customers, and it has now secured funding in order to grow into six more markets in Nairobi.
The US$100,000 investment comes from US-based impact investor Gray Matters Capital under its gender lens portfolio GMC coLABS. The funding marks the fourth investment by the impact investor in Africa, after Rwanda’s ARED, Ghana’s Redbird, and Nigeria’s SonoCare. It has also supported Kenya’s MumsVillage and Sierra Leone’s Mosabi as part of its global digital accelerator programme GMC Calibrator. earlier this year.
Dominique Kavuisya, Taimba’s co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), said the startup was delighted to become a part of Gray Matters Capital’s portfolio.
“This is a validation of the work which we have been doing and the impact on-ground delivering value to vendors and farmers through our mobile platform. The funding is a shot in the arm for us to strengthen our warehouse infrastructure by setting up cold storage facilities and also our delivery logistics so that we can cater to six new markets within Nairobi,” he said.
The startup is also planning to pilot in Mombasa and Kisumu by next year and will also look at introducing new products such as fruits, nuts and eggs as part of its farm product catalogue.
“Taimba will be all about quality fresh produce grown with good farming practices. We plan on using technology to fine tune traceability through-out the value chain-from seeds used to other farm inputs. We will expand our tech such that eventually there will be a simple solution that farmers and traders have a way to engage and benefit through us,” said Joan Kavuisya, the startup’s co-founder and head of product development.
