Twiga Foods is a Kenyan business-to-business marketplace platform that sources produce directly from farmers and delivers them to urban retailers.
Founded by Grant Brooke and Peter Njonjo in 2014, Twiga Foods started with the aim to export bananas from Kenya.
However, on their first day, no one ordered a single banana from them at the wholesale market. A certain ‘Mama Mboga’ took a chance on the company, placed an order, and became their first customer. After that first sale, they began to supply her and other fellow vendors on the front line which was a win for them, the vendors, and for their customers. As they grew, they expanded the line of produce, added more farmers and suppliers, and improved their technology and distribution each step of the way.
Since then, Twiga has made tremendous progress using technology to link smallholder farmers with informal traders, giving the producers access to new markets and a large pool of clients, all while optimizing the food supply chain in its markets.
Today, Twiga is a technology and service company operating a highly efficient supply chain that connects farmers, suppliers, vendors, and customers with high-quality produce, groceries, and home goods.
Twiga Foods Funding
Twiga Foods is said to be one of the best-funded tech startups on the continent, securing a US$10.3 million Series A funding round in 2017, a further US$10 million in November 2018, US$34.75 million across two rounds in 2019, and US$29.4 million in debt funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2020.
In 2021, Twiga Foods raised $50M in its Series C round to take its mission to expand food and retail distribution across the African continent. The round also includes significant follow-on investment from tech-oriented shareholders Juven, TLcom Capital, IFC Ventures, and DOB Equity, while OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund and Endeavor Catalyst Fund participated as new investors. The transaction was also an opportunity for some early investors to access liquidity via a US$30 million secondary sale, generating up to a 100 percent annualized return.
According to Crunchbase, Twiga has raised more than $100 million in debt and equity financing rounds.
Twiga Foods also made the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2022 list
Growth
In 2022, Twiga Foods launched a new subsidiary, Twiga Fresh, through which it will farm and distribute its agricultural produce to traders.
SOURCES
Benjamin Dada
