$56.4 M debt funding secured by Nigeria’s ThriveAgric to accelerate African expansion plans
ThriveAgric, a Nigerian agri-tech firm, has secured $56.4 million in debt financing from local commercial banks and institutional investors to expand its 200,000-strong farmer base and enter new African markets such as Ghana, Zambia, and Kenya.
ThriveAgric, which was founded in 2017 and has been fully operating since 2018, helps Nigerian farmers to sell their goods to FMCGs and food processors by utilising its patented technology to get access to funding, boost production, and increase sales to enhance food security.
The technology, which is an agricultural operating system, is completely offline, sends USSD messages to farmers, and powers Android applications that allow field agents digitally collect creditworthy farmers and acquire vital farm data.
The $56.4 million in debt financing includes a $1.75 million co-investment grant from the USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment, which will be utilised to increase the company’s customer base and enter new markets across Africa.
ThriveAgric’s sales have surged fivefold in the last year, with farmer numbers increasing by 277 percent year over year. This is a significant turnaround for the company, which was forced to restructure its management team in late 2020 as it attempted to turn around the business after failing to pay subscribers on time due to a slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The new investment takes us one step closer to fulfilling our mission of building the largest network of profitable African farmers using technology, to ensure food security. We look ahead with renewed confidence knowing that our smallholder farmers will benefit financially even more from this new investment,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Uka Eje.
“Despite a volatile backdrop over the past few years, brought about by the global pandemic, ThriveAgric witnessed temporary payment disruptions to our retail crowdfunders. However, we were able to overcome those challenges within a year and maintained company profitability. Our solid financial performance underscores investors’ faith in ThriveAgric.”
