Kenyan AgriTech, iProcure recently secured a $10.2 million Series B investment led by Investisseurs & Partenaires. The money, which is organized as debt and equity, will help iProcure expand into Tanzania and Uganda as well as start a credit offering that will allow agro-retailers to buy products on credit. British International Investment (BII), Ceniarth, and Novastar Ventures also took part in the fundraising round.
The traditional agricultural supply chain is eliminated by IProcure, which also offers technology-driven information on supply levels and costs. With a reduction from the going market rate, this ensures the availability, quality, and delivery of essential agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers.
Speaking on the raise, Niraj Varia, iProcure’s new CEO and former partner at iProcure’s key investor, Novastar Ventures, said, “In addition to bolstering our existing operations with more warehouses and delivery vehicles, this funding will expand iProcure’s product offering to include credit services and a new POS system for agro-dealers to better forecast their inventory needs and reduce pilferage within their shops. This will help our 5,000+ partner retailers increase their earnings and better serve the hundreds of thousands of farmers that depend on each shop.”
IProcure helps to reduce food costs and the climate impact of agriculture by guaranteeing smallholder farmers can plant their crops on time and produce more with less area. The distribution of essential agricultural inputs to more than 1 million farmers in Africa is being streamlined through iProcure, which has increased 23 times over the past five years.
Sara Taylor, Head of SME Funds at British International Investment, said “iProcure solves the problem of connecting smallholder farmers with the right inputs at the right time. BII is excited to partner with iProcure to help build a more inclusive, resilient, and efficient supply chain for agricultural inputs in Africa.”
Abel Boreto, Associate Investment Director at Novastar Ventures, added, “iProcure has grown 23 times in the five years since Novastar invested. This speaks to the demand for its services, which now reach over 1,000,000 Kenyan farmers. Novastar remains a stalwart supporter of iProcure’s growth and market entry into Tanzania and Uganda where they will no doubt bring immense value to the agricultural sector there.”
Asif Noorani, Senior Investment Manager of Impact Investing at I&P, said, “iProcure is playing a pivotal role in transforming the agricultural sector in Africa by digitising the agro-retailer networks and making last-mile agricultural inputs distribution more efficient. At its core, iProcure is improving farmers’ access to genuine and affordable agricultural inputs by consolidating the region’s fragmented agricultural inputs sector. These processes ultimately lower the cost of food production and improve food security.”
iProcure is altering traditional agricultural supply chains in East Africa by building its own distribution infrastructure and using it to connect large agricultural input suppliers with adjacent agro-dealers directly.
