After closing an R20-million ($1.3m) seed funding round led by AECI and ESquared Investments, award-winning agritech Khula! has announced the launch of their new app in a statement. The investment was made in June of last year, but Khula chose to keep the round quiet in order to coincide with the launch of their Khula! Inputs App.
“AECI is exactly the kind of investor we were looking for at this early stage — we did not want an investor at the table who was ONLY going to ask us how we’d performed in a specific quarter, we wanted a long term partner that would execute with us. A partner with a great reputation in the industry and with an incredible distribution network; a partner whose long term success was tied to a business model like ours. And AECI fits that description perfectly for us,” commented CEO Karidas Tshintsholo said in a statement.
Why The Investors Invested
“Khula! has very attractive fundamentals, a sizable addressable market, app development capabilities, key agri-business networks and a management team that wishes to work with AECI as their preferred agri-input and technical advisory partner,” stated Quintin Cross, Managing Director of AECI Plant Health.
“This is an exciting opportunity for AECI to digitally reposition itself in the agri- input market space while leveraging our product, technical and distribution capabilities. It aligns well with our corporate social responsibility and community outreach and supports the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of Zero Hunger, Responsible Consumption and Production and Job Creation for a better world,” he said in closing.
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E Squared has also been actively investing in South Africa since 2018. The VC recently made a R9.2-million ($612k) investment in WeThinkCode, a South African edtech startup as well as a $1m seed funding round in Synatic, a data automation software startup based in Johannesburg. The VC supports Allan Gray Fellows at different stages of their business cycle. The support includes patient capital as well as post-investment assistance.
In 2020, Allan Gray brought the total equity its clients owned in AECI to 15%.
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In all Allan Gray, Africa’s largest privately owned investment management company founded by deceased South African billionaire, Allan Gray, and which is focused on generating long-term wealth for investors, appears to be the uniting force for other investors in this round.
A Look At What Khula! Does
Founded in 2016 by Karidas Tshintsholo (CEO), Matthew Piper (CPO), and Jackson Dyora, the startup has recently been recognized with several awards, including MTN Business App of the Year in SA for 2018/2019, inclusion in the Chivas Regal Global Venture Competition’s “10 Social Enterprises in the World,” and winning the African stage of the KPMG Global Tech Innovator competition.
During the pilot, over 3000 farmers signed up, and Khula! had the opportunity to collaborate with key industry partners to successfully implement it. Three Khula! platforms were created as part of the pilot, all aimed at making the B2B agricultural supply chain easier, more efficient, and cost-effective for farmers.
The Khula! Fresh Produce Marketplace connects farmers to suppliers and allows them to sell in bulk; the Khula! Funder Dashboard connects investors with farmers; and the Khula! Inputs App connects local farmers to local and international suppliers and service providers.
Khula funding Khula funding
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer