News in brief:
– Winich Farms, a Nigerian agritech startup, has raised a $3 million funding to expand its operations and connect farmers with retailers.
– The company aims to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure fair prices for farmers in the Nigerian agricultural sector.
Nigerian agritech startup Winich Farms, which connects producers and retailers, has raised $3 million in a pre-Series A funding round.
Led by the Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF), the round featured other prominent investors such as Climate Resilient Africa Fund, Marula Square, Plug and Play Tech Centre, Acasia Ventures, and Tekedia Capital.
Sahel Capital, a major investment firm focused on the food and agriculture sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, provided $590,000 of the funding.
According to a report, Winich Farms plans to use the new funding to enhance its technology and streamline operations. The company also aims to establish regional distribution hubs and fulfilment centres across Nigeria to reduce order fulfilment times.
Funding and growth
Since its launch in 2020, Winich Farms has onboarded over 150,000 users, including farmers, small businesses, factories, agents, and logistics partners.
Founded by brothers Riches and Winner Attai and Chichebem Jibunoh, the startup provides farmers in rural areas with an opportunity to sell their produce to retailers and processors through its network of collection points staffed by agents.
Business users benefit from the company’s inventory management tools for ordering and managing commodities.
Another report indicates that Winich Farms raised $790,000 in 2022 and has since grown its gross merchandise value (GMV) by 300%, processing orders of up to $2.2 million per month.
Business model and impact
The company’s model involves agents bidding on retailer orders, negotiating fair prices with farmers, and selling to off-takers at marked-up margins. Off-takers are charged for commodities such as paddy rice, which costs ₦720 per kg. Delivery is typically completed within 24 to 72 hours.
Winich Farms’ co-founder and CEO, Riches Attai, attributes the company’s exponential growth to the large number of agents willing to work with them.
In addition to sharing revenue with farmers and agents, Winich Farms is providing credit to farmers to boost their production capacity. However, they require farmers to complete at least three supply cycles before partnering with financial institutions. In collaboration with Sterling Bank, the agritech firm plans to distribute 195,000 cards to underbanked rural farmers.
Winich Farms is addressing several key challenges in Nigeria’s agriculture sector. By connecting farmers directly to retailers, the startup is bridging the gap between producers and consumers, reducing the inefficiencies and losses that occur in traditional supply chains.
The company’s technology-driven approach also helps to improve price transparency and ensure fair compensation for farmers. Moreover, its efforts to provide credit and financial services to rural farmers are crucial for empowering small-scale producers and promoting sustainable agricultural development in Nigeria.
Through its innovative solutions, the company is contributing to the growth of the country’s agriculture sector and improving the livelihoods of farmers and rural communities.
