iProcure secures $10.2M Series B to power its East African expansion

iProcure, a Kenyan agritech startup has secured a $10.2 million Series B financing in a round led by Investisseurs & Partenaires. Other participants in the funding round were Novastar Ventures, British International Investment (BII), and Ceniarth.

The funding, structured as debt and equity, will support iProcure’s expansion into Uganda and Tanzania as well as their launch of a credit offering for agro-retailers to purchase supplies on credit.

"In addition to bolstering our existing operations with more warehouses and delivery vehicles, this funding will expand iProcure’s product offering to include credit services and a new POS system for agro-dealers to better forecast their inventory needs and reduce pilferage within their shops. This will help our 5,000+ partner retailers increase their earnings and better serve the hundreds of thousands of farmers that depend on each shop." Niraj Varia, iProcure’s new CEO and former partner at iProcure key investor, Novastar Ventures said.

iProcure has revolutionized traditional agricultural supply chains in East Africa by developing its own distribution infrastructure connecting major agricultural input suppliers directly to local agro-dealers via its proprietary distribution technology system.

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Asif Noorani, Senior Investment Manager of Impact Investing at I&P, said "iProcure is playing a pivotal role in transforming the agricultural sector in Africa by digitizing the agro-retailer networks and making last-mile agricultural inputs distribution more efficient. At its core, iProcure is improving farmers’ access to genuine and affordable agricultural inputs by consolidating the region's fragmented agricultural inputs sector. These processes ultimately lower the cost of food production and improve food security."

By cutting out the multiple levels of middlemen in the traditional agricultural supply chain and providing technology-driven insights on supply levels and price, iProcure ensures the availability, quality, and delivery of critical agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds at up to 25% discount from prevailing market prices.

iProcure is enabling the lowering of food costs and lessening the climate impact of agriculture by ensuring smallholder farmers can plant their crops on time and achieve higher crop yields while using less land.

Abel Boreto, Associate Investment Director at Novastar Ventures, added "iProcure has grown 23X in the five years since Novastar invested. This speaks to the demand for its services, which now reach over 1,000,000 Kenyan farmers. Novastar remains a stalwart supporter of iProcure’s growth and market entry into Tanzania and Uganda where they will no doubt bring immense value to the agricultural sector there."