Releaf, an African consumer goods manufacturer-friendly agri-tech startup, raised US $3.3 million in a pre-Series A funding round that was oversubscribed and also unveiled some new technologies. Releaf makes it simpler for manufacturers of consumer goods in Africa to access high-quality ingredients for their factories.
Releaf, a company founded in 2021, facilitates access to premium ingredients for FMCG producers. The firm creates technology to enable decentralised purchase and processing of raw commodities to boost profitability and avoid post-harvest loss for a more climate-resilient future, starting with sustainable oil palm in Nigeria.
Following a US $4.2 million seed round in 2021, the business has now secured an additional US $3.3 million in pre-Series A bridge funding to enable the introduction of two new technologies. These include SITE, a geographic mapping programme that recommends the most advantageous deployment of food processing equipment, and Kraken II, a portable version of its award-winning palm nut de-sheller.
Samurai Incubate Africa, which had previously invested in Releaf as the seed round’s leader, again led the fundraising round, which also included Consonance Investment Managers. Both Jeff Ubben, founder of Inclusive Capital Partners and board member of the World Wildlife Fund, and Stephen Pagliuca, chairman of Bain Capital, made investments.
Releaf has processed more than 10 million kg of palm nuts since its 2021 start, increasing its monthly income by seven times year over year. Leading consumer goods producers including Presco, PZ Cussons, and others have awarded the firm supply contracts worth more than $100 million USD. Since the company’s seed round, its valuation has quadrupled.
The next phases in Releaf’s strategy to fundamentally improve the effectiveness of agricultural supply chains in Africa, according to CTO and co-founder Uzoma Ayogu, are SITE and Kraken II.
“We are excited to have partnered with an exceptional cohort of investors and collaborators to roll out these technologies. To make food supply chains profitable, we must maximise extraction yields with leading processing technology and minimize logistics costs by bringing processing capacity closer to farmers,” he said. “Before Releaf, stakeholders had to choose between one or the other – large factories had great technology but were far away, leaving most farmers with rudimentary technology to process their crops. We’re now able to maximise both.”
Samurai Incubate Africa managing partner Rena Yoneyama claimed that Releaf’s performance with its pilot Kraken had confirmed its premise.
“We are excited to continue supporting their ambitious vision to create efficient supply chains within Africa’s agricultural market. They have added key members to their management team and continue to impress us with their rapid commercial growth and technological development. We look forward to more of the same success as the team rolls out Kraken II and SITE,” she said.
