Since 2016, Shamba Pride has revolutionized last-mile distribution for farm inputs, combating price exploitation and quality concerns through its digital merchant network, digishops. With a current network of 2,700 agro-dealers across 24 Kenyan counties, the agtech plans to scale its presence, including franchise network expansion, using a $3.7 million debt-equity pre-series A funding from EDFI AgriFI and Seedstars Africa Ventures. This growth aims to cover more retailers and agricultural regions in Kenya and explore neighboring markets like Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Shamba Pride empowers agro-dealers through digitization, offering tools for business management, inventory ordering, and visibility. The agtech ensures the availability of essential supplies like fertilizers and seeds to small-scale farmers in rural areas, constituting a significant portion of Kenya’s agriculture sector.
Founder and CEO Samuel Munguti emphasized the impact on rural communities, stating, “We are empowering these agro-dealers by giving them the right tools and technology for visibility of their businesses, for their professional and commercial development and right support for farmers around them.”
Apart from digitizing agro-dealers, Shamba Pride provides farmers with market linkages, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) financial services, and training information through its USSD platform. The agtech focuses on small-scale farmers who play a vital role in Kenya’s economy, contributing 33% to the GDP, employing over 40% of the population, and forming a key sector for innovators.
The funding includes $1.7 million in equity, building on the $1.1 million raised in 2021. Shamba Pride’s success lies in innovations that facilitate day-to-day farming activities and create additional revenues for farmers and agro-dealers.
Maxime Bouan, a general partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures, praised Shamba Pride’s scalable model, saying, “We’ve been proud to support a scalable model which creates additional revenues for farmers and agrovets (agro-dealers) and strongly contributes to successful women entrepreneurship.”
Shamba Pride’s sourcing strategy involves partnerships with companies like Elephant Verve, a French multinational supplying “climate-smart” farm inputs. This strategic approach aims to build resilience for small-holder farmers, aligning with the agtech’s mission to address supply chain challenges and enhance the agricultural sector’s efficiency.
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