ThriveAgric, a technology-focused Nigerian agriculture company, raised $56.4 million in debt financing from local commercial banks and institutional investors. The increase also included a $1.75 million co-investment grant from West Africa Trade and Investment, funded by USAID.
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The new investment will allow the company to grow its base of more than 200,000 farmers and expand into new African markets, including Ghana, Zambia and Kenya.
Founded in 2017 (and fully operational since 2018), ThriveAgric enables Nigerian farmers to sell their produce to FMCGs and food processors, leveraging its proprietary technology to access finance and improve productivity and sales to promote safety eating.
The technology – Farm Operating System (AOS) – works completely offline, sends USSD to farmers and powers Android apps used by field agents to help digitally round up creditworthy farmers and collect relevant farm data.
This latest funding follows $9 million the company raised in 2020. Over the past 12 months, ThriveAgric’s revenue has increased fivefold, with a 277% year-over-year increase in the number of farmers. The strong margin performance was driven by farmers using the company’s proprietary AOS product.
The company supports Africa’s agricultural sector by helping smallholder farmers produce high-quality grain. Crops, including maize, rice and soybeans, are stored in many of the company’s more than 450 warehouses in Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina states in Nigeria, before being unmarked and offered to local and global commercial markets at a premium price.
Commenting on the impact the funds will have, Managing Director Uka Eje said, “The new investment brings us one step closer to fulfilling our mission to build the largest network of profitable African farmers using technology to ensure the Food Safety. We look to the future with renewed confidence, knowing that our smallholder farmers will benefit even more financially from this new investment.”
