Ghanaian agri-tech startup Farmerline completes $12.9m pre-Series A funding

Farmerline, a Ghanaian startup that bills itself as “Amazon for African farmers,” has received a US$6.4 million pre-Series A investment as well as another US$6.5 million in debt to help it expand.

Farmerline, founded in 2013 by Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai, collaborates with agribusinesses and farm associations to provide high-quality fertiliser and seeds, free education on climate-smart farming practices, and access to international markets to African farmers.

Its marketplace combines digital tools with logistics, field agents, farm resources, and strategic partnerships, while the company’s in-house technology platform Mergdata is licensed by global food traders and manufacturers who use its customisable tools to improve farmers’ lives around the world.

Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, led the US$6.4 million equity investment, which also included Greater Impact Foundation. Farmerline’s first equity raise since its inception with a US$600 grant nearly a decade ago. DEG, Rabobank, Ceniarth, Rippleworks, Mulago Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation, Netri Foundation, and Kiva are among the lenders on the $6.5 million loan.

Farmerline has digitized over one million farmers through partnerships in 26 countries to date, and with the new funding, it plans to expand its reach.

“At the height of the pandemic, local agricultural SMEs were critical in ensuring food security – supporting farmers, supplying agricultural inputs, and distributing to final consumers,” Attah said. “With this new investment, we will scale the AI capabilities within Farmerline’s Mergdata platform to help farmers and agribusinesses increase their income by assisting them in gaining access to farm inputs, supplying them with assets such as tricycles, tractors, and threshers, and connecting them to global markets.”

Farmerline will also invest in local infrastructure and logistics to support distribution, as well as expand the industry’s marketplace in Ghana, with plans to deepen relationships with partners in Ivory Coast.

“The goal of Farmerline has always been to create long-term wealth for farmers and their communities.” To do so at scale, we’re expanding our operations across regions and actively seeking the best talent to help build an efficient supply chain that saves money for agribusinesses, lowers the cost of farming, and shortens the time it takes people to get services to rural areas. “We must ensure the growth of local agribusinesses because when they do, we all succeed,” Addai said.

Tamer El-Raghy, managing director of ARAF, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to co-lead the investment and to collaborate with world-class Ghanaian entrepreneurs.

“Farmerline’s technology platform assists smallholder farmers in adapting to climate change by increasing their income and reducing income volatility by providing access to inputs and markets while assisting them in adapting sustainable and climate smart practices, which perfectly fits ARAF’s investment strategy.” This is a valuable addition to ARAF’s portfolio, and we look forward to assisting Farmerline’s local and regional expansion,” he said.