Farmerline, a Ghanaian startup that bills itself as “Amazon for African farmers,” has raised US$6.4 million in pre-Series A funding and another US$6.5 million in debt to further its expansion.
Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, led the US$6.4 million equity investment, which also included Greater Impact Foundation. This is Farmerline’s first equity raise in over a decade since it was founded with a US$600 grant. DEG, Rabobank, Ceniarth, Rippleworks, Mulago Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation, Netri Foundation, and Kiva are among the lenders of the US$6.5 million debt.
“At the peak of the pandemic, local agricultural SMEs played a vital role in ensuring food security — supporting farmers; supplying agricultural inputs; and distributing to final consumers,” co-founder Alloysius Attah said. “With this new investment, we will scale the AI capabilities within Farmerline’s Mergdata platform to help increase the income of farmers and agribusinesses; supporting them to access farm inputs; supplying them with assets such as tricycles, tractors and threshers; and connecting them to global markets.”
Farmerline will also utilize the cash to invest in local infrastructure and logistics to support distribution, as well as to expand the industry’s market in Ghana, with plans to build partnerships with partners in Ivory Coast.
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Why The Investors Invested
Since its inception, the firm has gained significant traction. Farmerline has now digitized over one million farmers through partnerships in 26 countries, and with the latest capital, the company plans to expand its reach.
Tamer El-Raghy, managing director of ARAF, expressed his honor at co-leading the investment and excitement at the prospect of collaborating with world-class Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
“Farmerline’s technology platform helps smallholder farmers adapt to climate change by increasing their income and reducing their income volatility by providing them with access to inputs and markets while helping them adapt sustainable and climate smart practices which perfectly fits ARAF’s investment strategy. This is an invaluable addition to ARAF’s portfolio and we look forward to supporting Farmerline’s local and regional growth,” he said.
A Look At What The Startup Does
Farmerline was founded in 2013 by Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai to provide African farmers with high-quality fertiliser and seeds, free instruction on climate-smart farming practices, and access to worldwide markets.
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Its marketplace integrates digital tools with logistics, field agents, farm resources, and strategic partnerships, while the company’s proprietary technology platform Mergdata is licensed by global food traders and manufacturers who use its customisable tools to improve the lives of farmers worldwide.
“Farmerline’s goal has always been to create lasting wealth for farmers and their communities. To do that at scale, we’re expanding our operations across regions and are actively on the lookout for the best talent to help build an efficient supply chain that saves money for agribusinesses, reduces the cost of farming and the time it takes for people to get services to rural areas. We must ensure that local agribusinesses grow because when they do, we all succeed,” Addai said.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh