Naspers has made a R40 million ($2.5 million) investment in Nile, an agritech firm that connects farmers to consumers of fresh produce, through its early-stage tech investment vehicle Naspers Foundry. Naspers Foundry led the R83 million equity round, which included new investors Platform Investment Partners, Raba Capital, and Base Capital. Naspers Foundry’s eleventh investment since its inception in 2019 is part of Naspers’ R1.4 billion commitment to growing South Africa’s innovation ecosystem.
“We are delighted to have Naspers Foundry support our mission to make fresh produce more accessible to people across the African continent. While we were able to bootstrap Nile through our initial growth phase, we look forward to having the backing of an internationally respected investor and experienced operator like Naspers as we scale our cross-border operations to the rest of Africa,” Louis de Kock, Co-founder and CEO of Nile, said.
Why The Investors Invested
The startup acquired considerable traction since it was founded. Approximately 30 million kilograms of fruits and vegetables have been traded on the Nile platform since its launch, with customers from five nations and 35 Southern African cities. Farmers of all sizes, from small-scale farms to major commercial farmers, employ Nile’s services, with purchasers ranging from huge South African-listed company or a small family-owned merchants and distributors. Nile operates furthermore in Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, and Mozambique.
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“The importance of food security cannot be overstated, and a platform like Nile provides a positive contribution towards helping to sustain it. According to the World Bank, Africa’s food system has huge potential to create more and better jobs. More inclusive value chains that link farmers and other stakeholders can help realise this potential. [1] Our investment in Nile is a great example of how technology can support communities and improve economic opportunity,” Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, South Africa CEO of Naspers, said.
“Nile provides a fully integrated ecosystem that creates trust between buyers and sellers on the platform and is a great example of tech entrepreneurs building innovative solutions that address people’s everyday needs. We are excited about the growth potential of this business and its contribution to transforming the trade of fresh produce,” Fabian Whate, Head of Naspers Foundry, said.
Naspers Foundry is a R1.4 billion early-stage business funding vehicle dedicated to growing South Africa-focused technology companies.
A Look At What The Startup Does
Nile was formed in 2020 to give farmers with digital solutions that can address many pain issues intrinsic to food trading, such as price transparency, quality verification, speed of payments, product traceability, and food waste.
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Nile’s end-to-end strategy connects South African farmers with commercial retailers of fresh food across the continent. The B2B platform streamlines transactions and protects payments on behalf of farmers, resulting in enhanced cash flow and greater transparency. Nile utilizes data and a complicated logistical network to enable farmers to access higher-yielding markets, as opposed to only those that are geographically accessible. Fresh produce purchasers, such as retailers, wholesalers, and processors, have access to real-time availability and landing costs for a vast selection of produce, and can trade using a variety of B2B payment options.
Nile farmers South African Nile farmers South African
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