HelloChoice, a South African agri-fintech startup has concluded a major investment from Standard Bank after several partnerships. The startup has a 25% equity deal with the bank to help it continue operating its trading platform and enhance market efficiency.
Co-founder and CEO, Grant Jacobs said in a statement that “HelloChoice is leading the modernization of agricultural trade as we digitize food production and trade to help unlock and protect value in the sector that is vital to sustaining and nourishing life.
The strategic investment will help us to continue to fund ongoing tech investments and operational capacity, as we leverage our strengths and complementary offerings to deliver more innovative solutions and services to customers in South Africa and in the African continent.
Bid, buy, and sell produce on HelloChoice
The company was launched in 2018 by Jacobs and Graeme Jarvie. It operates fresh produce and agricultural marketplace for farmers, sellers and buyers. Users can register an account on the site to bid on and buy different types of produce while producers have direct access to buyers.
Also, their website, HelloChoice has a mobile app on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. HelloChoice has over 2000 users which have joined and traded over R100 million on it in its first 30 months of operation.
The company partnered with Standard Bank in 2020 on the OneFarm hunger relief and food security program. The program makes use of the startup’s platform to connect farmers with charities and feeding schemes to assist them to donate surplus food. OneFarm Share donated 3200 tons of food to communities and children as of 30 August. More than half of the produce donated was distributed to one million beneficiaries through 750 registered organizations.
“Standard Bank’s equity purchase in HelloChoice affirms the bank’s aspirations to play a broader role in the agriculture ecosystem, and forms part of the wider ecosystem strategy, which houses OneFarm and OneFarm Share,” Head of Ecosystems at Standard Bank, Wendy Pienaar said.
“It demonstrates the bank’s commitment to building agri-entrepreneurship and food security in the country.”
HelloChoice will soon start to roll out the release of its next main mobile app that includes TradeAlerts for sellers and buyers. Future releases will include blockchain and machine learning technologies.
