Nigerian Agritech Startup Agricorp raises $17.5m Series A funding round

Nigerian Agritech startup Agricorp, has announced it raised $17.5m in a Series A funding round to help it increase its production capacity to 7,000 metric tonnes.

The round was led by Nigeria-based Vami with $11.5m in equity, while One Capital LLC and AFEX also supported the round.

Agricorp was founded in 2018 by Kenneth Obiajulu and Wale Omotimirin, to digitalize the buying and selling of spices on the continent.

Agricorp has so far supported over 5,000 smallholder farmers with inputs and training on good agronomic practices, the startup has also built a 0.5MT/hour spice processing plant in Kaduna that produces value-added products for export market.

Through Agricorp’s Farmbase platform, farmers can register, aggregate, and receive payments for products sold. Financial institutions can also use this information to provide loans, credit facilities, and insurance to interested parties.

Obiajulu, Agricorp’s chief executive officer (CEO) speaking said: “We believe that by increasing our capacity to 7,000MT, we will maximize the potential to boost Nigeria’s forex earnings through export, contribute our quota to improving the Nigerian GDP from agriculture, and serve as a worthy model to African youths who aspire to be agribusiness owners. We want to show them it is possible and very rewarding as well”.

The funding will be used to expand Agricorp’s spices processing capacity to hit 7,000MT per annum, set up regional sales operations in South Africa and East Africa, acquire certifications for food safety and hygiene, increase staff strength to meet growing demand, and improve marketing efforts.