To expand AI-powered climate-smart farming throughout Africa, Tanzania’s MazaoHub raised $2 M Pre-seed
In an oversubscribed pre-seed round, Tanzanian agri-tech startup MazaoHub, which combines hands-on agronomy and artificial intelligence (AI) to promote climate-smart farming, has raised US $2 million to help expand its operations.
With its AI-powered soil intelligence, farm management tools, farmer support centers, and direct market access, MazaoHub is revolutionizing agriculture in Africa. Smallholder farmers benefit from its hybrid “Tech and Touch” model, which boosts output, reduces expenses, and increases climate change resilience.
Both productivity increases and climate benefits are intended outcomes of the company’s business model. Farmers can produce more food with fewer inputs while reducing emissions, conserving water, and using less energy by maximizing irrigation, boosting the adoption of organic manure fivefold, and reducing fertilizer use by up to 30%.
The Catalyst Fund is leading MazaoHub’s equity fundraising effort, which also includes US$1.5 million from Nordic Impact Fund, Mercy Corps Ventures, Elea Foundation, Impacc, and DOB Equity. Additionally, US$500,000 in non-dilutive capital from the Livelihood Impact Fund is included, demonstrating the growing interest of investors in blended finance for climate adaptation.
In addition to expanding MazaoHub’s network of Farmer Excellence Centers and financing the launch of CropSupply.com, which started piloting earlier this year, the new capital will speed up production of the company’s inexpensive soil kits and sensors.
“Farmers become data-driven decision-makers, buyers gain trusted traceability, and agribusinesses operate as climate-smart franchises. This is where sustainability meets scale,” said Geophrey Tenganamba, CEO and co-founder of MazaoHub.
“MazaoHub is showing that African agriculture can blend data insights with local agronomists to enable sustainable farming at scale,” said Maelis Carraro, founder and managing partner at Catalyst Fund.
