Since its inception in 2016, Shamba Pride has been dedicated to improving last-mile distribution of farm inputs and addressing price exploitation and quality concerns for farmers through its merchant network known as digishops.
The agtech firm has successfully built a network of 2,700 merchants (agro-dealers) spanning 24 counties in Kenya, covering just over half of the country. With plans for expansion, Shamba Pride aims to scale further within Kenya, covering more retailers and agricultural regions over the next year. Additionally, the company is exploring opportunities in neighboring markets like Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, where similar challenges exist in the farm input supply chain, such as sourcing, unpredictable prices, quality issues, and stockouts.
To fuel its growth in Kenya and expand its franchise network, Shamba Pride has secured $3.7 million in debt-equity pre-Series A funding. This funding comes from the EU agriculture financing initiative EDFI AgriFI and Seedstars Africa Ventures (SAV), including $1.7 million in equity. This follows a previous capital raise of $1.1 million in 2021 from SAV and Gray Matters Capital.
Shamba Pride leverages stockouts to digitize agro-dealers, enabling various tasks such as business management and inventory ordering. This digitization ensures the availability of crucial supplies like fertilizers and seeds to millions of small-scale farmers in rural areas.
Samuel Munguti, Founder and CEO of Shamba Pride, emphasized the importance of empowering agro-dealers with the right tools and technology for visibility, professional development, and commercial success. The agtech also provides farmers with market linkages, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) financial services, and training information through its USSD platform.
The primary target of Shamba Pride is small-scale farmers within Kenya’s agriculture sector, which contributes significantly to the country’s GDP, employs over 40% of the population, and plays a crucial role in the rural economy. The sector accounts for 65% of Kenya’s export earnings.
Shamba Pride’s success is attributed to its innovative solutions that facilitate day-to-day farming activities. Seedstars Africa Ventures, a sector-agnostic fund, supports startups addressing basic needs such as education, healthcare, and utilities, or those enhancing goods, services, and efficiency. The fund received $30 million and $10.5 million from EIB and AFDB, respectively, last week.
Shamba Pride strategically sources inventory from partners like the French multinational Elephant Verve, providing “climate-smart” farm inputs. This approach aligns with the agtech’s strategy to build resilience for smallholder farmers.
Source: Techcrunch