South African agri-tech startup Khula! has completed an intensive three-year pilot phase. The Khula! team worked with farmers of all scales across Mzansi and are set to grow their digital trading space even further.
Khula! has built a digital ecosystem of three platforms, all aimed at making the agricultural value chain more efficient:
- The Khula! Inputs App allows farmers to access approved agricultural inputs and services from leading suppliers (both local and international).
- The Khula! Fresh Produce Marketplace (which is in the final stages of its pilot) allows farmers to sell produce directly to formal market bulk buyers (local and international).
- The Khula! Funder Dashboard connects institutional investors with farmers who meet their funding mandates.
The agri-tech startup believes in a long-term ecosystem approach to solving problems in agriculture. It has seen great success during its pilot. Thus far, more than 3,000 farmers have signed up.
Even in its pilot period it also racked up a number of accolades, including the MTN Business App of the Year for 2018-19. It was listed under the Top 10 Social Enterprises in the Chivas Regal Global Venture Competition and was also recognised by Africarena as the top tech startup in Johannesburg.
Founders and investors
Khula! was self-funded by its founders Karidas Tshintsholo, Matthew Piper and Jackson Dyora for most of the pilot phase.
Tshintsholo, co-founder and CEO, says they have found the perfect investor since, and are now set to grow their platforms. “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 who would execute with us.
“[We wanted] 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.”
Tshintsholo says that AECI’s footprint in Africa and in other parts of the world puts their agri-tech company in a good position to scale their business. It also opens up the possibility of global partnerships. “We already have significant interest across the SADC region for a solution like ours.”
According to Quintin Cross, managing director of AECI Plant Health, the marketplace is changing. Khula! has been identified as a strategic partner in the development of a digital trading space for emerging farmers, both for the sale of produce and the purchase of inputs.
“Khula! has very attractive fundamentals, a sizeable 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.”
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