South African Agritech Startup Khula launches app after closing $1.3m funding round

One month after closing a $1.3m seed round led by AECI and ESquared Investments, Johannesburg-based Agritech startup Khula has announced the launch of their new app in a statement.

Khula was founded in 2016 by the trio of Karidas Tshintsholo, Matthew Piper, and Jackson Dyora and had over 3000 farmers during its pilot test. The startup has had the opportunity to work with leading industry partners to deploy it successfully.

Khula aims to use its platform to connects farmers to suppliers and allows farmers to sell their produce in bulk. Its marketplace platform connects investors with farmers, and their newest product, connecting local farmers to local and international suppliers and service providers.

CEO of Khula Karidas Tshintsholo speaking on the development said “AECI is exactly the kind of investor we were looking for at this early stage – we did not want an investor at the table who was ONLY going to ask us how we’d performed in a specific quarter, we wanted a long term partner that would execute with us. A partner with a great reputation in the industry and with an incredible distribution network; a partner whose long-term success was tied to a business model like ours. And AECI fits that description perfectly for us”.

Quintin Cross, Managing Director of AECI Plant Health also added that investing in Khula is AECI’s way of repositioning itself in the Agrictech space.

“Khula! has very attractive fundamentals, a sizable addressable market, app development capabilities, key agri-business networks, and a management team that wishes to work with AECI as their preferred Agri-input and technical advisory partner.

“This is an exciting opportunity for AECI to digitally reposition itself in the Agri- input market space while leveraging our product, technical and distribution capabilities. It aligns well with our corporate social responsibility and community outreach and supports the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of Zero Hunger, Responsible Consumption and Production and Job Creation for a better world” said Quintin.