Twiga Foods targets small firms with Sh3.2bn IFC funding

Kenya agri-tech startup Twiga Foods has secured a Sh3.2 billion ($30 million) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to cover financial gaps faced by small and medium enterprises.

The fund will deliver through the unfunded risk-sharing facilities (RSFs), which will be scaled in phases. Kenya Commercial Bank will undertake the first phase.

It seeks to support more than 300 irrigated medium-scale contract farmers to complement Twiga’s seasonal smallholder farmer supply base.

Twiga CEO and co-founder Peter Njonjo said this will stabilise year-round fresh fruit and vegetable volumes in line with the firm’s mission of supplying readily available safe, affordable, and high-quality food to Kenya’s urban markets.

“This initiative lines up strategically with the Government of Kenya’s Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy, which aims at boosting food security in the medium term through modernising and scaling of commercial farming for the domestic market,” he said.

In 2019, the startup raised Sh3.24 billion ($30 million) from lenders and investors in a fund-raising round led by Goldman Sachs, to fund its expansion into West African countries.

The drive raised Sh2.57 billion ($23.75 million) in equity from Goldman Sachs as well as venture capital investors such as the IFC, TLcom Capital, Wamda Capital and Creadev.

This is in addition to Sh648.6 million ($6 million) debt from Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Alpha Mundi.

So far, the company has raised a total of Sh5.85 billion ($55 million) in debt and equity.