GreenFingers Mobile, a South-African based agri-tech startup which focuses on providing a technology platform for managing and financing smallholder farmers in Africa has secured an equity seed investment through Hivos Food and Lifestyle Fund an impact investor based in the Netherlands to expand its services across Africa.
The mobile-first software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology platform combines an Android app, alongside a web based data aggregation and intelligence tool, and an Application Program Interface (API) which enables a host of value added services via 3rd parties.
GreenFingers Mobile was formed through a partnership between Impact Amplifier, a South African business accelerator, and Mobenzi, a mobile-first technology company, which empowers front-line workers in over 40 countries.
GreenFingers Mobile currently operates across three countries and supports over 5,000 smallholder farmers. The business has already seen significant demand for its mobile agriculture solution, which integrates technical, transactional, financial and grower data into large food supply chains. The Hivos investment will be used to further expand its products and services into other African countries.
GreenFingers can make it easier for large food companies to work with smallholder farmers, playing a significant role in poverty alleviation and reducing their impact on the environment.
“Our software solution replaces archaic paper based management systems with real time mobile solutions, bringing transparency to the supply chain, and enabling the efficient management and financing of smallholder/ emerging farmers,” said Max Pichulik, GreenFingers Mobile’s chief executive officer (CEO).
Keith Wallace, Senior Investment Manager for The Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund said, “The GreenFingers solution is an important tool in enabling ethical supply chains, through the management of large, real time data sets. We hope that GreenFingers can make it easier for large food companies to work with smallholder farmers, playing a significant role in poverty alleviation and reducing their impact on the environment.”
Image credits : GreenFingers Mobile
