Kenyan agri-tech startup Twiga Foods has more than doubled its total raised funding with a round worth almost US$30 million to further develop its technology and lay the foundations for international expansion.
Founded in 2014, Twiga Foods is a business to business food distribution company that builds fair and reliable markets for agricultural producers and retailers through transparency, efficiency and technology.
The startup is one of the best-funded on the continent, securing a US$10.3 million Series A funding round in 2017, a further US$10 million last November, and US$5 million from the Mulliez family’s investment firm Creadev in June.
It has now more than doubled its total raised capital with this new round, which comes in a combination of equity and debt. Twiga has raised US$23.75 million in a Series B equity round led by Goldman Sachs, with participation from existing investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), TLcom Capital and Creadev. An additional US$6 million in debt was raised from OPIC and Alpha Mundi.
The investment will fund the continued development of Twiga’s proprietary technology and logistics assets to support the rollout of its distribution system and lay the foundations for expansion into other cities on the continent.
Since launch in Nairobi in 2014, Twiga has been building Kenya’s only end-to-end distribution for fresh and processed food, sourcing from more than 17,000 producers and delivering three times a week on average to over 8,000 retailers. Its digital platform and logistics network links retailers with farmers and food manufacturers, presenting a convenient and reliable alternative to the current inefficient and expensive farm/factory-to-market processes.
“This funding enables us to invest in our technology and organisation to tackle the inefficiencies in Africa’s domestic food production and distribution ecosystems; a US$300 billion informal and fragmented market that is estimated to grow to US$1 trillion by 2030. With the support of our investors, we are developing technology-driven commercial solutions and cooperating with existing industry players to solve the challenge of food security in Africa,” said Peter Njonjo, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder at Twiga Foods.
Goldman Sachs executive director Jules Frebault said the firm was delighted to be backing Twiga as it scales.
