Shamba Pride, a Kenyan agri-tech startup, has raised $1.1 million in funding

Shamba Pride, a Kenyan agri-tech startup, has raised US$1.1 million in funding to support its national expansion and roll out its solution to over 1,000 shops.

Shamba Pride is a one-stop online-to-offline platform that connects smallholder farmers to high-quality inputs, services, and information via technology-enabled “DigiShops.”

The startup recently received a US$1.1 million funding round from Seedstars Africa Ventures and Gray Matters Capital to support its national expansion and the rollout of its digital solution to over 1,000 digitalized stores.

This will enable the company to help hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers increase their income and productivity by increasing access to higher-quality inputs, education, financial services, and market connections.

“Shamba Pride is transforming African farmers’ rural distribution systems from traditional and informal to modern trade.” Existing last-mile agro dealer entrepreneurs can use Shamba Pride to digitalize their operations and provide smallholder farmers with appropriate and affordable technology, quality products, and services. The model “creates a network of smart micro-entrepreneurs serving the smallholder farmer community, allowing farmers to increase farm productivity, sustain employment, and increase household income,” said CEO and founder Samuel Munguti.

“We are delighted that Seedstars Africa Ventures and Gray Matters Capital have joined the Shamba Pride family.” Our efforts to revolutionize last-mile distribution systems for African farmers have gained traction. The investment will propel our national growth, allowing us to serve hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers while also building a dependable community of smart micro-entrepreneurs who will provide better services to farmers.”

According to Maxime Bouan, a partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures, talented African early-stage entrepreneurs continue to face funding challenges despite offering tangible tailored solutions.

“We are confident that Shamba Pride’s online-to-offline model is perfectly suited to capitalize on a massive market opportunity by upskilling existing value chains and finally providing farmers with the quality counterparts they deserve.” “In addition to capital, we will continue to actively support the company through additional market links and corporate partnerships within Africa and beyond to ensure farmers receive the best value,” he said.