Farmcrowdy, a Nigerian Agric-tech platform that offers locals of the West African state an opportunity to venture in and sponsor agricultural activities has received a $325,000 grant from Mobile for Development, a global team that is associated with GSMA. The grant, which was awarded at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2018) in Barcelona Spain is part of GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund.
The funds will be used by several agric-based start-ups to build smartphone and feature phone apps that will allow seamless interactions among farmers and field specialists. The applications will also be curated to deliver extra services such as electronic payment channels and training programs.
GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund was put in place in 2016 to aid upcoming digital businesses with grant funding, technical assistance and a platform for start-ups to collaborate with mobile operators to heighten the offerings of their product portfolio.
Past beneficiaries of the grant include Kenya’s Kytabu and Optimetriks, Uganda’s Ensibuuko and LipaMobile, Jamii Africa (Tanzania) and Raye7 (Egypy), among others.
“We at Farmcrowdy are honoured to have our hard work recognised and supported by GSMA. We are thrilled about the possibilities this grant will provide as we continually strive to remain at the forefront of innovation in Agritech across Nigeria. This award will play a crucial part in the continued journey towards scaling our activities across the country while building our relationships with the telecommunication partners of GSMA across Nigeria,” said Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder and CEO of Farmcrowdy
A couple of weeks ago, Farmcrowdy received a significant boost in scaling its business with a $1 million seed fund from some key global investors such as Social Capita, Coz Enterprise and Techstars Ventures.
At the moment, the platform engages more than 4000 small-scale farmers, a number it hopes to quadruple by the end of 2018.
