Smallholder Agriculture
Climate Finance | March 18, 2024
HeavyFinance raises €20 million to help farmers regenerate Europe’s agriculture
HeavyFinance offers credit to help farmers and small agri-businesses adopt regenerative practices to improve soil health and sequester carbon. The Lithuania-based crowdfunding platform, …
Smallholder Agriculture | March 7, 2024
Warc raises $7.5 million for regenerative agriculture in West Africa (video)
ImpactAlpha, March 7 — Argentinian entrepreneur Emiliano Mroue founded Ghana-based Warc over a decade ago. The social enterprise serves roughly 20,000 smallholder farmers …
Smallholder Agriculture | February 8, 2024
Eco.business Fund backs Family Bank to finance climate resilience for farmers in Kenya
ImpactAlpha, February 8 – Most commercial banks in Africa have long dismissed smallholder farmers and other agricultural businesses as too risky. Kenya’s Family …
Agrifood Tech | January 31, 2024
Aquaconnect raises $4 million to link India’s fish farmers to supplies and markets
ImpactAlpha, January 31 – Chennai-based Aquaconnect supports fish and shrimp farmers with remote monitoring and access to cold storage, logistics and buyers. The …
Dealflow | January 18, 2024
KisanKonnect’s raises $3.7 million to combat food waste and boost farmers in India
ImpactAlpha, January 18 – Pune-based KisanKonnect started its farm-to-consumer logistics service to cut food waste in India’s inefficient and fragmented food supply chain. …
Agrifood Tech | November 27, 2023
Investors commit $1.7 million to Aquarech to support fish farmers in Kenya
ImpactAlpha, November 28 – Africa’s fast-growing population is driving increased demand for protein, including fish. With local production dwindling, Kenya is meeting demand …
Smallholder Agriculture | November 1, 2023
Verqor scores $7.5 million to provide digital credit to Mexico’s farmers
ImpactAlpha, November 1 – More than three-quarters of Mexico’s five million farmers do not earn sufficient income to live. Mexico City-based Verqor provides …
Climate + Gender | October 18, 2023
MCE Social Capital notches $41.6 million for its sustainable agriculture fund
ImpactAlpha, October 18 – The MCE Empowering Sustainable Agriculture fund, or MESA, builds on MCE Capital’s 17 years of support for small agribusinesses …
Plugged In | October 6, 2023
Plugged In: Building equitable food systems with reparative capital and community (video)
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 6 – How we grow our food matters, but for over a century, “who” gets a fair shot at owning and profiting …
Smallholder Agriculture | October 5, 2023
Investors are bullish on digitizing Africa’s agricultural supply chain
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 5 – When Desmond Koney inherited his father’s farm, he discovered firsthand the challenges of smallholder farmers in Ghana and much …
Inclusive Economy | October 4, 2023
Road to justice for Black farmers leads through flexible finance
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 4 – More than 150 years of discriminatory lending and land heists have left a generation of Black farmers with little access …
Smallholder Agriculture | September 25, 2023
Complete Farmer nets $10 million to connect Ghana’s farmers
ImpactAlpha, September 25 – Complete Farmer started as a “crowdfarming” platform to connect Ghana’s smallholder farmers to funders. It has grown into an …
Africa | August 28, 2023
Kentegra Biotechnology in Kenya scores $15 million for organic crop treatments
ImpactAlpha, August 28 – Imported crop treatments are expensive for smallholder farmers in Africa. Kentegra Biotechnology is helping farmers substitute affordable bio-pesticides for …
Smallholder Agriculture | July 27, 2023
Culttivo raises $14.5 million to extend credit to Brazil’s small-scale coffee producers
ImpactAlpha, July 27 – Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee. Most beans are grown and harvested by small producers, whose livelihoods …
Podcasts | July 21, 2023
Acre Africa: Insuring farmers against crop failures and climate change
David Bank chats with Acre Africa’s Niza Banda in the next conversation from the recent “Connecting capital to communities” gathering at the Salzburg …
Dealflow | July 10, 2023
eFishery rakes in $200 million for sustainable seafood in Indonesia
ImpactAlpha, July 10 — Indonesian aquaculture tech venture eFishery has raised $200 million from ResponsAbility, Malaysian public pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan, Abu …
Agrifood Tech | July 1, 2023
Connecting Indian farmers to global markets
David Bank chats with FarMart’s Samridhi Singh in the next conversation in our series from the recent Salzburg Global Seminar on “Connecting Capital …
Frontier and Growth Markets | June 29, 2023
Omnivore raises $150 million for its third India agrifood tech fund
ImpactAlpha, June 29 – Omnivore secured $150 million in a first close of its third agrifood impact tech fund. The Mumbai-based impact investor …
Climate Finance | June 27, 2023
Smallholder farmers need holistic climate solutions, not quick fixes
Staple crops like corn, wheat and plantains are being impacted by climate change. So is the coffee we drink; farmers are being forced …
Climate Finance | June 8, 2023
The Russell Family Foundation launches Food for Climate Solutions grant program
ImpactAlpha, June 8 – The Russell Family Foundation has launched a grant program to fund organizations in western Washington state that are supporting …
Frontier and Growth Markets | May 1, 2023
Beneficial Returns backs Elisur Organic to help Peru’s coffee farmers diversify their crops
ImpactAlpha, May 1 – The world’s coffee supply—and the farmers that grow it—is threatened by climate change. Some coffee specialists are trying to …
Climate Finance | April 28, 2023
Deal spotlight: Financing farming and small-business leaders in regeneration
ImpactAlpha, April 28 – Root Capital calls them “climate action leaders.” World Resources Institute calls them “regeneration champions.” Pioneering small farmers, agri-businesses and …
Frontier and Growth Markets | April 27, 2023
Brazil’s Arado raises $12 million to give smallholder farmers a tech edge
ImpactAlpha, April 27 – In one of Latin America’s most industrialized agriculture markets, Arado is doubling down on its support for small producers. …
Agrifood Tech | April 20, 2023
Aqua-Spark invests in sustainable aquaculture startups in Vietnam and Finland
ImpactAlpha, April 20 – Aqua-Spark was one of the earliest investors in the “blue economy,” focusing on an agrifood niche at a time …
Smallholder Agriculture | April 20, 2023
AgDevCo invests $8 million in avocado farming venture in Kenya
ImpactAlpha, April 20 – Africa-focused agriculture investment group Agris is teaming up with a major Israeli avocado producer, Granot, to build a nearly …
Smallholder Agriculture | April 3, 2023
Agri-Business Capital Fund invests in four African food processing businesses
ImpactAlpha, April 3 – The Agri-Business Capital Fund, which is managed by Bamboo Capital and Injaro Investments, has inked loans totaling €2.3 million …
Frontier and Growth Markets | March 21, 2023
Eco.business Fund stakes $10 million to Absa Bank to boost agribusinesses’ climate resilience in Kenya
ImpactAlpha, March 21 – Eco.business Fund blends finance to support sustainable economic development in emerging markets. The Finance in Motion-managed fund inked an …
Sustaining Impact | March 9, 2023
Leveraging catalytic capital to transform economic systems in Africa
Editor’s note: This blog is part of ImpactAlpha’s series, “Sustaining Impact,” authored by participants in the Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3) Sustaining Learning Labs. Key insights …
Climate Finance | March 9, 2023
MCE secures $19.5 million to boost smallholder farmers’ climate resilience
ImpactAlpha, March 9 – MCE Social Capital provides loans to small businesses and financial services firms in emerging markets that are supporting climate …
Latin America | February 27, 2023
Root Capital and other impact investors emerge as key players in Biden’s Partnership for Central America
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 27 – The U.S.- Mexico border gets the attention. But in addressing the root causes of migration, it is long-term investments in …
Frontier and Growth Markets | January 26, 2023
Climate tech venture Ecozen raises $25 million, giving early investors a partial exit
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ecozen, in Pune, India, launched a decade ago to provide affordable, clean energy-fueled products for India’s smallholder farmers. The …
Smallholder Agriculture | January 23, 2023
BlueOrchard invests $5.29 million in Brazilian insurer Newe for climate resilience
ImpactAlpha. Jan. 23 – Climate-driven floods, droughts and extreme weather around the world caused more than $268 billion in costs last year. Most …
Dealflow | January 23, 2023
Bamboo Capital’s Build Fund backs Green Mountain Arabica Coffee in Rwanda
ImpactAlpha, January 23 — In Rwanda’s Karenge region, women-owned Green Mountain Arabica Coffee exports green unroasted coffee beans that it sources from 1,200 …
Frontier and Growth Markets | November 16, 2022
Katapult’s Africa accelerator zeros in on food security
ImpactAlpha, November 16 – Insect farming in Ghana. Aquaculture in Kenya. Land restoration in Morocco. Seven of the nine startups in the Norway-based impact …
Signals | November 15, 2022
Women-led agribusinesses notch greater profits, faster growth and less risk
ImpactAlpha, November 15 – Financing smallholder farmers is difficult work. New data from Root Capital suggests that investing in women delivers the trifecta investors …
Smallholder Agriculture | October 25, 2022
KKR Global Impact takes a $300 million stake in seed platform Advanta Enterprises
ImpactAlpha, October 25 — KKR Global Impact, the $1.3 billion impact fund of private equity giant KKR, has acquired a 13.3% of Advanta …
Smallholder Agriculture | September 15, 2022
Sahyadri Farms raises nearly $40 million to digitalize India’s smallholder farmers
ImpactAlpha, September 15 — Sahyadri Farms is a farmer-led fruit and vegetable processing and export business that works with more than 18,000 farmers …
Dealflow | September 8, 2022
Misfits Market acquires Imperfect Foods to consolidate the food-waste reduction market
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — Even amid the downturn in venture funding this year, significant raises for companies in food waste management and upcycling …
sustainability | August 31, 2022
Organic brand Coyuchi looks to raise capital from the crowd
ImpactAlpha, August 31 — Long before sustainability became a buzzword, San Francisco-based Coyuchi was selling high-end organic cotton sheets, bath towels and other …
Agents of Impact | August 19, 2022
Charley Cummings, Walden Mutual Bank: Sustainable lending for sustainable food
Within the next few weeks, if everything goes according to plan, the first customers will make deposits in New Hampshire-based Walden Mutual Bank, …
India | July 19, 2022
Wheelocity raises $12 million to cut waste from India’s food supply chain
ImpactAlpha, July 19 – Waste of fresh food is a common problem in emerging markets where many small farmers lack access to cooling technologies, …
Signals | July 14, 2022
Is a green transition the cause – or the solution – in Sri Lanka’s crisis?
ImpactAlpha, July 14 – It was an irresistible meme: A crash transition to organic farming tanked Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector and sent the country …
Dealflow | July 12, 2022
Ankur Capital backs impact tech ventures Vegrow and String Bio
ImpactAlpha, July 12 — Mumbai-based impact fund Ankur Capital seeks out early and even unproven businesses that are using technology to drive down …
Agents of Impact | July 8, 2022
Amy Bell, The Cook’s Nook: Planting seeds for impact
ImpactAlpha, Jul. 8 – Amy Bell’s early work as a financier and advisor to impact funds and social enterprises helped establish the nascent field …
Smallholder Agriculture | June 16, 2022
Investing to transform food systems in the face of a global crisis
The growing food crisis has become a global catastrophe. The combined impact of the invasion of Ukraine, climate-related disasters like droughts, and other …