Nigeria’s first digital agricultural platform, Farmcrowdy, which allows investment in agriculture, has revealed that it had closed a $1 million dollars seed fund from local and international investors
According to Farmcrowdy, the fund from the sponsors will help in actualizing its goals of expanding into 20 states in the country and employ up to 4,000 small-scale farmers.
Farmcrowdy’s seed funding round saw participation from investors such as Cox Enterprises, Techstars Ventures, Social Capital, Hallett Capital, and Right-Side Capital; as well as angel investors Tyler Scriven, Michael Cohn, Josephine Group, FC Agro Allied SPV and Dr. Christof Walter.
Farmcrowdy was established in November 2016 after mulling over challenges within the agriculture sector. The farmers receive on-the-ground advice and training from agriculture experts in better agricultural practices, different type of crops and production methods.
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Onyeka Akumah, CEO, Farmcrowdy, in explaining how sponsors make profits, she spelt out that prior to harvest, Farmcrowdy works with pre-arranged buyers, who assist the farmers in selling their produce and earn a decent margin.
“The sponsor then gets their original sponsorship +40% of the profit from the harvest, the farmer receives 40% of the profit and Farmcrowdy receives 20% of the profit. Farm sponsors can get between 6-25% returns after harvest depending on the farm type they sponsor.”
According to Onyeka Akumah, the company was pleased to announce the investment because it was a landmark achievement for the company.
“Today’s seed announcement is a remarkable milestone for us and Nigeria’s Agritech industry as a whole – It will allow us to build on our earlier traction as we continue to introduce Nigerians to this exciting new category of partnering with farmers for impact and return.”
However, one of the investors, Duncan O’Brien, Senior Vice President, Cox Enterprises, Corporate Strategy, and Investments, said, “From the moment we encountered Farmcrowdy, we were very impressed with the work that the start-up is doing to empower Nigeria’s farmers”.
In conclusion, Farmcrowdy has also launched its first mobile app that provides an accessible platform for agricultural enthusiasts to experience, learn, do their farming business with real farmers and appreciate agricultural practice with the help of images and videos from various farms.
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