Ghanaian Agritech startup, Agrocenta raises $790k pre-series A

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February 5, 2021
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2 min read
Source; Agrocenta.com

Ghanaian Agritech startup, Agrocenta has raised $790,000 pre-series A funding. The investors that took part in the round include Shell Foundation, FCDO, AV Ventures and Rabo Foundation.

Chief executive officer, Francis Obirikorang, and co-founder Michael Ocansey founded Agrocenta in 2015 and they operate a mobile merchanting platform that provides market information, storage and delivery solutions to smallholder farmers in Ghana.

The company claims the registered farmers on its app, CropChain, has rapidly grown from 3,000 to 48,000. These farmers handle crops like maize, rice, soybean, cowpeas, and sorghum.

The startup says it plans to use the recent funding to scale its agri-tech ecosystem and purchase crops from farmers. It also plans to develop its smallholder farmer inclusion programmes.

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Recall that in 2018, the startup clinched several accolades at the Environment and Green Energy category at the World Summit Awards, the Young Entrepreneurs Competition at the World Export Development Forum and the Africa Social Good category at Tech Crunch Startup Battlefield Africa. 

In 2018, Agrocenta won the Seedstars World competition -- an early-stage startup pitching competition --, receiving $500k in equity funding. By December of the same year, the company closed a seed round of equity and non-equity funding to scale its operations. 

The latest funding takes Agrocenta’s total disclosed funding to $1.9 million.

The startup’s chief executive officer (CEO) Francis Obirikorang and co-founder Michael Ocansey had this to say of the investment:

“This is a significant milestone for AgroCenta, having the support of leading institutions, particularly with the COVID-19 backdrop, underlining the strength of AgroCenta and the importance of its mission.”

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“The demand for agricultural raw materials from off-takers in the brewery, manufacturing and consumer sector is increasing exponentially because of the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place by the government of Ghana, hence this capital injection will help to secure purchases at fair and transparent prices from smallholders — a much-needed lifeline for many who are at the proverbial bottom of the pyramid.”

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Journalist feasting on tech, business, and policies. Looking to chat? Catch up with me, @eruskkii, on Twitter or send a mail to [email protected]
Journalist feasting on tech, business, and policies. Looking to chat? Catch up with me, @eruskkii, on Twitter or send a mail to [email protected]

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