Twiga Foods, a mobile-based business-to-business supply platform has been around since 2013. The organization supplies market stalls and kiosks, among other retail outlets with bananas, tomatoes and potatoes (the startup is diversifying its product portfolio), and has reached more than 2600 vendors, sold 200M+ bananas with a 92% customer acquisition.
The startup wants to cement its stand in markets that are often disrupted by newer and innovative solutions, and it hopes to meet this goal by diversifying its product portfolio and launch advanced supplier services, in addition to increasing its vendor circle. The company looks forward to achieving these goals after raising $10.3 million in a Series A funding round that was fronted by Wamda Capital and includes Omidyar Network, DOB Equity, Uqalo, 1776, Blue Haven Initiative, Alpha Mundi, and AHL.
“Twiga is an outcome of the Nairobi startup ecosystem, the years of investments that have gone into developing talent, supporting hubs, and attracting capital to the market,” said Grant Brooke, co-founder of Twiga Foods.
Twiga’s business model understands that vendors love the idea of goods delivered to them, and this is the main reason it pivoted into a tech platform. In essence, Twiga’s technology has spurred a replacement market for the wholesale market and has taken aggregated demand from customers and organizing supply based on their requirements. It is a major feat that has enabled vendors to get access to a stable market at reasonable prices while cutting down on harvest losses.
At the moment, Twiga has kept its head high as Kenya’s largest basic food distributor as it processes up to 4000 orders a week.
Wamda Capital’s chairman Fadi Ghandour will be part of Twiga’s Board of Directors.
“Twiga represents our first investment in East Africa, a new geography for us in which we plan on being increasingly more active. We are particularly excited in beginning our investment program in East Africa by supporting this remarkable set of entrepreneurs building a truly disruptive business. Drawing on our experience in the logistics and supply chain space, we believe Twiga has developed a unique solution to address the inherent inefficiencies in the delivery of fresh produce in East Africa with significant positive impact for both producers and consumers,” said Fadi.
Apart from Series A round, Twiga did close $2 million in grant from USAID and GSMA, among many others to support farmer services and financial inclusion.
