![[Kenya] Digital credit provider Tala disbursed Sh240 billion in loans in eight years](https://theafricanbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TALA-APP-360x180.jpg "[Kenya] Digital credit provider Tala disbursed Sh240 billion in loans in eight years 19")
Shamba Pride, the Agri SME based in Kenya has raised $3.7 million from EDFI AgriFI – the EU Agriculture Financing Initiative – and Seedstars Africa Ventures.
As part of the arrangement, EDFI Agrifi will provide a long term loan of $2 million, to foster sustainable development and economic growth in developing countries. Seedstars Africa Ventures, investor since 2021, has committed an additional $1.7 million in equity, reaffirming its support to the company and catalysing investments into the company from international funds.
Shamba Pride addresses the crucial challenge of providing quality and affordable agricultural inputs, services, and information to smallholders in rural areas. Known for its innovative approach, the company has built a platform empowering last-mile agro-dealer shops, or agrovets, with digital services, namely enabling easy online ordering and purchase with weekly doorstep delivery of supplies, reducing out of stock situations. This model not only allows the creation of new jobs, but it also provides access to agricultural inputs for smallholder farmers in remote rural areas at more affordable prices.
Shamba Pride CEO Samuel Munguti said: “EDFI AgriFI joined this growth journey through an investment that propels Shamba Pride towards its vision of positively impacting the lives of some 200,000 farmers by the end of 2025. The company has already grown its outreach by 10x since 2021 to reach over 220 shops, and the additional equity investment from Seedstars Africa Ventures alongside a trusted institutional financial institution is a significant milestone for the company to become a regional champion and a trusted brand for the industry.”
Rodrigo Madrazo, Chief Executive Officer of EDFI Management Company, stressed the transformative outcome brought by the investment, noting: “Support for Shamba Pride reflects our commitment to empowering entrepreneurship in frontier markets, with a high impact felt in rural areas. By providing appropriate long-term debt alongside additional equity investment, EDFI AgriFI is poised to play a pivotal role to help scale up Shamba Pride operations.”
“Shamba Pride’s success is based on innovations which facilitate the day-to-day farming activities. We’ve been proud to support a scalable model which creates additional revenues for farmers and agrovets and strongly contributes to successful women entrepreneurship”, noted Maxime Bouan General Partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures, adding that the company would now grow to new heights and scale with larger corporate partnerships.
The investment aims to support Shamba Pride as it expands current activities in Kenya and develops additional services. The financing will enable the company to develop its franchise network and benefit from additional working capital to source agri inputs in bulk, which both will increase the impact in rural areas.
Robin Boereboom, AgriFI Senior Investment Officer, EDFI Management Company, added: “Samuel Munguti, a Kenyan entrepreneur, applied his experience in supply chain and marketing within fast-moving consumer goods companies to disrupt the local agri inputs’ sector. We’re excited to support a locally grown and innovative digital initiative that is revolutionizing the agri input ecosystem in rural areas, with significant benefits for both agrovets and farmers.”
