Focused on revolutionizing retail in Africa, Twiga, a Kenya-based B2B e-commerce platform today announced the launch of its new subsidiary, Twiga Fresh.
Twiga, founded in 2014, was built on the goal to simplify the supply chain between fresh food producers, FMCG manufacturers and retailers through a B2B e-commerce platform. The startup has so far achieved a great feat, reducing the supply chain which usually includes several intermediaries and significantly reducing the cost of food for consumers.
With 700 employees, Twiga affirms to have reached a level where it delivers to 10,000 vendors daily, has 100,000 registered customers, 100 suppliers, 8,000 farmers, 500 agents and has built 400 products operating across 12 cities in East and West Africa, where it plans to explore new markets.
Its new Twiga Fresh platform, as the name implies, will comprise farming and distribution of Twiga-owned agricultural produce to traders, always fresh with absolutely no stale product.
The company has now included the production of horticultural products such as onions, tomatoes and watermelons and asserts an estimated output of 150,000 tons of fresh produce annually. So far, the company has invested $10 million in its new direction, to include debt investment from development finance institutions. Twiga ascertains that its farm is one of the largest commercial fresh produce establishments targeting the domestic market since most large-scale horticultural businesses in the East African country export their harvests.
The B2B platform’s focus will still include sourcing produce like bananas, which has an established and efficient value chain, from partner farmers.
In November last year, the company raised $50 million in Series C funding led by Creadev, a French investment company and included Juven, TLcom Capital, IFC Ventures and DOB Equity, OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I and Endeavor Catalyst Fund.
The startup also raised $10.3 million in Series A funding in 2017, $10 million in November 2018, $34.75 million in two rounds in 2019, and $29.4 million in debt funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2020.
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