Kenyan-based agri-tech, Taimba, has raised US$ 277,000 in funding in partnership with Enviu and the DOEN Foundation.
The startup’s mobile-based platform connects small-scale farmers in rural areas to urban retailers.
Taimba sources produce directly from the farmers and delivers them to schools, hospitals and informal green grocers in Nairobi.
Taimba’s aim is to cut out the middleman who often exploit farmers and lead to inflated prices. Removing the middlemen thus shrinks the agricultural value chain.
Taimba has currently served 2000 farmers. It has engaged with 15 farmers’ SACCOs to sell a wide array of produce, e.g potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages and carrots, among others.
It also has 300 recurrent customers that consume the above produce.
Taimba will use the funding to expand into six new markets in Nairobi.
In 2019, Taimba raised US$ 100, 000 from Gray Matters Capital. In the same space of time, it went into partnership with Enviu, which is backed by the DOEN Foundation.
This recent funding is partly a grant and partly dispatched in exchange for an undisclosed amount of equity.
Taimba will channel these finds towards integrating cold logistics within its value chain, expanding its product offering, optimizing its operations and growing its market size.
The firm will employ the use of cold storage to transport perishable goods over long distances, hence allowing more flexibility and a stable demand for farmers.
DOEN Foundation’s Freija Vermeer added, “The cold storage solution is important for Taimba to be able to scale up and to grow Taimba’s impact, so it can be an example to innovate and make impact for other companies within the food chain in the region.”
Vermeer added, “Furthermore, we believe that the co-operation between Taimba and Enviu is an advantage.”
