- Farmerline, a Ghanaian agritech startup, has raised an extra $1.5 million in pre-Series A equity round to expand across West Africa.
- The additional funding brings the total amount raised in the round to $14.4 million, which includes $6.4 million in debt financing.
- Oikocredit led the round, with participation from Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF), FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, and Greater Impact Foundation.
Launched in 2013 by Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai, Farmerline collaborates with agribusinesses and farm associations to provide high-quality fertiliser and seeds.
It also offers free education on climate-smart farming practises and access to international markets to African farmers.
The partner retailers use the startup's Mergdata's proprietary AI technology platform for supply chain intelligence to digitise farmers and generate the data needed to predict demand for farm supplies and avoid stock-outs.
It also uses this data to determine how much business expansion credit to give agribusinesses.
Farmerline states that it plans to strengthen its supply chain for agribusinesses to reduce farming costs and increase yield for farmers on the continent by deploying AI technology and local infrastructure.
Farmerline claims it has financed approximately $18 million in inputs and crops through franchise alliances with agribusinesses and input dealers.
The startup aims to reach 300,000 farmers by 2022, representing a nearly 400% increase in growth from last year.
The company, currently based in Ghana, is looking to expand to Ivory Coast, where it has already begun recruiting new employees.
