Twiga Foods employees/ Twiga.com
NAIROBI Kenya, Dec 8- Twiga Foods has expanded its operations in the country after raising Sh5.56 billion from a group of international Private Equity firms.
The agritech company runs a mobile-based B2B food supply platform that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from farmers in rural Kenya to small- and medium-sized vendors, outlets and kiosks in the country.
The expansion will see the company distribute fresh foods to Kisii town, Kaplong in Bomet county, Kilgoris in Narok, Migori, Awendo and Oyugis.
The sh5.56 billion will also go towards financing the firm’s planned penetration into new markets in West Africa.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted Twiga Food’s expansion, which was set to happen early this year.
The firm currently serves more than 33,000 vendors monthly in Uasin Gishu, Embu, Meru, Kirinyaga, Machakos, Nakuru and Kiambu.
Twiga Foods streamlines logistics in the distribution of farm produce such as bananas, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, mangoes and cabbages, to small-scale vegetable vendors in city estates, helping make products affordable and increasing sales for vendors.
Since it was founded in 2014, the company has raised billions of shillings including equity and loan deals from international investors such as the International Finance Corporation.
Twiga Foods has so far raised $157 million across 19 rounds from 23 investors. Annual revenue as of 2019 is estimated at between $5 million and $10 million. The firm has over 100,000 customers and delivers to at least 10,000 of them daily through its 700 employees.
Moving into 2022, the company plans to be an off-taker and seller of horticultural crops across the East African market with further plans to move into the Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Nigeria markets.
