Agri-tech startup Shamba Pride raised $3.7 M Pre-Series A Debt & Equity funding
Pre-Series A debt and equity funding totalling US $3.7 million has been raised by Kenyan agri-tech startup Shamba Pride in order to support the company’s growth.
Through technology-driven “DigiShops,” Shamba Pride is a one-stop online-to-offline platform that links smallholder farmers to high-quality inputs, services, and information.
The business successfully secured a US $1.1 million funding round in 2021 from Seedstars Africa Ventures and Gray Matters Capital. It has since secured a US $3.7 million pre-Series A round led by EDFI AgriFI, the EU Agriculture Financing Initiative, with participation from Seedstars Africa Ventures.
A long-term loan of US $2 million will be provided by EDFI Agrifi as part of the agreement, and US $1.7 million in equity will come from Seedstars Africa Ventures. EIB Global recently provided Seedstars with an equity investment of US $30 million.
The investment is intended to help Shamba Pride as it develops new services and grows its present operations in Kenya. With the financing, the company will be able to expand its network of franchises and acquire more working capital to procure agricultural inputs in large quantities.
“EDFI AgriFI joined this growth journey through an investment that propels Shamba Pride towards its vision of positively impacting the lives of some 200,000 farmers by the end of 2025. The company has already grown its outreach by 10x since 2021 to reach over 220 shops, and the additional equity investment from Seedstars Africa Ventures alongside a trusted institutional financial institution is a significant milestone for the company to become a regional champion and a trusted brand for the industry,” said Shamba Pride CEO Samuel Munguti.
The CEO of EDFI Management Company, Rodrigo Madrazo, emphasized the investment’s transformative effect.
“Support for Shamba Pride reflects our commitment to empowering entrepreneurship in frontier markets, with a high impact felt in rural areas. By providing appropriate long-term debt alongside additional equity investment, EDFI AgriFI is poised to play a pivotal role to help scale up Shamba Pride operations,” he said.
