Nile, a South African agri-tech startup that uses its marketplace to allow buyers to buy directly from Africa’s leading food producers, has raised $5.1 million in an equity funding round led by Naspers Foundry.
Nile’s new equity round was led by Naspers Foundry, which contributed $2.5 million, alongside Platform Investment Partners, Raba Capital and Base Capital.
This is the 10th transaction for Naspers Foundry, which also includes SweepSouth, Aerobotics, Food Supply Network, The Student Hub, WhereIsMyTransport, Ctrl, Naked Insurance, and Floatpays.
“We are delighted to have Naspers Foundry support our mission to make fresh produce more accessible to people across the African continent. While we were able to bootstrap Nile through our initial growth phase, we look forward to having the backing of an internationally respected investor and experienced operator like Naspers as we scale our cross-border operations to the rest of Africa,” said Louis de Kock, co-founder and CEO of Nile.
“Nile provides a fully integrated ecosystem that creates trust between buyers and sellers on the platform and is a great example of tech entrepreneurs building innovative solutions that address people’s everyday needs. We are excited about the growth potential of this business and its contribution to transforming the trade of fresh produce,” Fabian Whate, head of Naspers Foundry, said.
Nile was founded in 2020 with the goal of providing farmers with digital solutions to address several pain points associated with food trading, such as price transparency, quality verification, payment speed, produce traceability, and food waste.
Over 30 million kilograms of fruits and vegetables have been exchanged on Nile since its launch, with customers hailing from five countries and 35 towns and cities across Southern Africa.
Farmers of different sizes, from small-scale farms to large commercial farmers, use Nile’s services, while customers range from large South African-listed firms to small family-owned merchants and distributors.
Farmers and commercial retailers of fresh produce in South Africa and around the continent are connected through the startup’s end-to-end process
