South African agri-tech startup Nile secures $5.1m funding round led by Naspers Foundry

Nile, a South African agri-tech firm that uses its platform to allow purchasers to buy directly from Africa’s top food producers, has raised a ZAR83 million (US$5.1 million) equity fundraising round headed by Naspers Foundry.

Nile was founded in 2020 with the goal of providing farmers with digital solutions to address several pain points associated with food trading, such as price transparency, quality verification, payment speed, product traceability, and food waste.

Farmers and commercial merchants of fresh produce in South Africa and around the continent are connected through the startup’s end-to-end procedure. The B2B platform streamlines processes and protects payments for farmers, resulting in greater transparency and improved cash flow.

Naspers Foundry led the ZAR83 million equity round, contributing ZAR40 million (US$2.5 million), alongside Platform Investment Partners, Raba Capital, and Base Capital. SweepSouth, Aerobotics, Food Supply Network, The Student Hub, WhereIsMyTransport, Ctrl, Naked Insurance, and Floatpays are among the companies under Naspers Foundry’s portfolio.

“We are ecstatic to have Naspers Foundry join us in our effort to make fresh food more accessible to people all around Africa.” While we were able to bootstrap Nile through its initial growth phase, we are excited to have the support of an internationally known investor and experienced operator like Naspers as we expand our cross-border operations to the rest of Africa,” said Louis de Kock, Nile’s co-founder and CEO.

Over 30 million kilograms of fruits and vegetables have been exchanged on Nile since its debut, with customers hailing from five nations and 35 towns and cities across Southern Africa. Farmers of different sizes, from small-scale farms to large commercial farmers, employ Nile’s services, while customers range from huge South African-listed firms to tiny family-owned merchants and distributors. Nile has operations in Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, and Mozambique, among other countries.

“Nile is a terrific example of tech entrepreneurs creating creative solutions that solve people’s everyday needs by providing a fully integrated ecosystem that promotes confidence between consumers and sellers on the platform.” “We are delighted about this business’s growth potential and its role to revolutionizing the fresh produce trade,” said Naspers Foundry CEO Fabian Whate.