French investment company Creadev has invested US$5 million in Kenyan agric startup, Twiga foods.
Backed by the Mulliez family, Creadev is investing to support Twiga’s growth and upscale its support to small-scale farmers in the country.
With this investment, the initial investors of Twiga – Adolf H. Lundin Charitable Foundation, Blue Haven Ventures, Crescat Limited, Omidyar Network, Index Ventures through Project Hand Purpose Trust, and Uqalo, have let go of their stakes in the company. Selling their stakes is part of an approach to accommodate later-stage and longer-term investors.
Creadev has invested in companies at different stages from venture capital to growth equity and buyout. It has an annual investment capacity up to € 200m.
Established in 2014, Twiga bridges gaps in food & market security to achieve an efficient, fair and transparent market. They source quality produce from farmers and deliver to vendors.
According to Twiga Foods CEO, Peter Njonjo who recently joined from Coca-Cola, “Having Creadev join our shareholding is a huge boost to our mission to deliver safe, affordable high-quality food to urban consumers, while providing reliable markets for farmers. It will support our efforts towards growing our ecosystem of farmers and retailers.”
According to Sarah Ngamau and Pierre Fauvet, who head Creadev’s activities in Africa, “We believe the appointment of Mr. Njonjo as CEO is another proof of Twiga’s ambitions and willingness to grow to the next level.
We will leverage on Creadev’s international retail network and future funding capacity to support the team in executing this ambitious expansion plan and continue delivering their strong value proposition to small-holder farmers, informal retailers, and end customers”.
Twiga works with 17,000 farmers, and 2,500 retailers daily and plans to expand its operations outside Kenya
Last year, Twiga Foods got a $10 million investment led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme. In 2017, it also raised US$10.3 million and this was led by Wamda Capital, including Omidyar Network, DOB Equity, Uqalo, 1776, Blue Haven Initiative, Alpha Mundi, and AHL.
