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Investment and entrepreneurship training firm Village Capital has partnered the impact investment Schooner Africa Fund to launch an initiative to accelerate six-figure investments into agribusinesses in the region.  

The Africa Investment Marketplace launched by Village Capital and Schooner Africa Fund will tackle the disconnect in East Africa between early-stage ventures looking for capital, and investors looking for deal flow.

With East Africa suffering from a disconnect between entrepreneurs and investors, the partners are testing a solution they hope will provide curated deal flow for scalable, early stage companies with innovative business models.  

The focus is on companies in East Africa’s agricultural value chain that are in the so-called “Pioneer Gap”, looking to raise between US$100,000 and US$500,000.

“We are providing due diligence, transaction advisory, investor matching and deal syndication services for eight agribusinesses from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan, selected from Schooner’s and Village Capital’s portfolios and training programmes,” said Cynthia Ryan,  managing director of Schooner Capital.

“By addressing the challenge of robust deal flow and investment readiness, Schooner Africa Fund and Village Capital intend to unlock US$2 million in investments with direct impact on the wealth and livelihoods of smallholder farmers.”

Schooner and Village Capital will be introducing investors to Esoko, FarmDrive, Futurepump, Herdy Limited, Honey Care, iProcure, Ojay Greene, and Wanda Organic, all of which all have offices in Nairobi.    

“With millions of smallholder farmers in East Africa and the growing population, this sector is critical to economic growth and wealth creation.  But investment in the agricultural sector has been slow, owing to challenges of market access, climate change, and mismatched returns expectations,” said Ross Baird, chief executive officer (CEO) of Village Capital.

“Our companies are reducing post-harvest loss, building supply chains, and adding value.  We know they are investable and can scale, with the help of our curated deal making.”

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