Apollo Agriculture raises $9.5M from the U.S. International Development Finance to Increase food security in Africa. The 10-year loan with U.S. International Development Finance (“DFC”) will help the product and financing platform give small-scale farmers with all the tools required to increase their crop yield, including quality agricultural inputs, insurance and optimised agricultural advice, all on credit.
According to Eli Pollak, CEO and co-founder of Apollo: “We are extremely excited to execute this transaction with DFC. The loan is a testament to the importance of Apollo’s mission to enhance food security across Africa and will be instrumental in delivering on our strategy and growth plans. This is an essential moment to be investing in food security and we are very pleased to have DFC’s support. We have greatly enjoyed working with DFC and look forward to strengthening our cooperation in the future.”
Apollo Agriculture started operations in 2017 in Kenya, where it has been expanding rapidly, empowering more than 170 thousand farmers to date, nearly half of them female farmers. Apollo’s solution builds financial and climate resilience as well as improves food security among small-scale farmers and rural communities. Thanks to Apollo’s innovative technology-driven approach, farmers are able to get access to financing and all the tools they need to farm profitably, increasing their crop yield by approximately 2.0-2.5x times.
The loan from DFC will allow the Company to continue expanding across Africa (Apollo launched operations in Zambia in 2022) and delivering on its mission to enhance food security and build climate resilience among small-scale farmers and rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.