Village Capital has announced investments in Kenya’s Aquarech and Nigeria’s CoAmana, two innovative startups that are transforming the lives of farmers, via its Reducing Inequalities Investment Facility.
Village Capital has operated in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2012, running over 14 accelerator programmes serving entrepreneurs in 15 countries in the region. It has supported more than 120 startups and 78 Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESO), working in sectors such as financial health, hardware, sustainability, and the future of work.
Its Reducing Inequalities Investment Facility, is backed by FMO’s MASSIF Fund, and was established to support financial inclusion by supporting innovative financial solutions and inclusive businesses. It has now announced investments in Aquarech and CoAmana.
Aquarech, which has secured US$350,000, is a Kenyan agri-tech startup that enables small and medium-sized fish farmers to become more productive and profitable by providing them with access to quality fish feed, credit, and buyers.
“An inclusive and sustainable aquaculture food system in Africa depends on how many small and medium-sized fish farmers we can transition to profitability,” Dave Okech, co-founder and CEO of Aquarech, said. “This fund enables us to achieve this by bringing high-quality extruded floating pelleted fish feed with better feed conversion ratios directly to the farmers’ doorstep, supported by a credit platform and market linkages. With this intervention, we are transitioning farmers to profitability.”
Heather Matranga, VP of impact investments at Village Capital, said Aquarech had presented a compelling case for the Reducing Inequalities Fund, showcasing its potential to enhance livelihoods for fish farmers and generate employment for women and youth in rural areas.
“This company, which really sits squarely at the intersection of climate resilience and economic mobility, is aligned with our mission to support emerging impact leaders tackling rural inequality. The founders of Aquarech have a combination of lived-experience and nuanced understanding of the problems fish farmers face, as well as the business acumen and creativity to solve these problems,” she said.
Nigeria’s CoAmana, meanwhile, has banked US$500,000 from the fund. The startup leverages existing market governance structures with a top-down approach, marketing its product, Amana Market, to enhance market management.
The startup has established agent networks to facilitate the onboarding of farmers and traders into the digital marketplace, ensuring the effective distribution of essential services, such as access to information, high-quality inputs, and credit, to farmers and traders.
“This investment marks a pivotal moment for CoAmana, acting as a catalyst for our future ambitions. Village Capital has been an unwavering partner, journeying with us from Nigeria to Kenya and deeply understanding the communities and markets we serve, even reaching the borders of Niger,” said Hafsah Jumare, founder and CEO of CoAmana.
“Having a partner who not only supports but truly understands our mission is both galvanising and validating. This has been a long journey within an ecosystem that has supported us to get this far, and we are eager to enter the next chapter of our growth.”
Kavon Badie, investment officer at Village Capital, said the investment in CoAmana would drive greater price transparency, efficiency, market linkages, and access to finance.
“We chose to invest in Coamana because of their innovative approach to leveraging existing market structures to improve efficiencies. They provide farmers and traders, who are often excluded from traditional financial systems, access to essential credit and information on producing high-quality inputs, ultimately improving the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers who rely on these markets. This investment aligns perfectly with our fund’s purpose of fostering financial inclusion and reducing rural inequality,” Badie said.
Aquarech and CoAmana are the third and fourth investments made via the Reducing Inequalities Investment Facility, which has previously backed Apontech, a Bangladesh-based company enhancing financial inclusion for factory workers, and Crop2Cash, a Nigerian agri-tech startup empowering smallholder farmers.
