SokoFresh Agri Innovations East Africa
Description
SokoFresh’s innovative and circular business model unlocks cold storage and processing benefits at the first mile through a bundled offering of cold storage and market linkage to smallholder farmers and buyers.
Market Opportunity/ Problem
~40% of fruits and vegetables worth $140M are lost annually in Kenya due to poor aggregation and first-mile cold storage deficit. Although cold storage technologies exist, adoption is low due to seasonality, lack of financing, and lack of product-market fit. SokoFresh empowers farmers by directly connecting them to markets through the market linkage arm. It incorporates cooling and processing at farmgate at an affordable price, reducing post-harvest losses from ~40% to less than 5%. In this way, SokoFresh increases income for the farmers and supports the adoption of the cold storage service among smallholder farmers.
Company Information
Years of operation
1
Type of organization
Private company
Stage of the business
Growth stage
Agribusiness focus
Enabling (Cold storage)
Agriculture value chain(s) focus?
Food crops
Primary country of operation
Kenya
Other country(ies) of operation
N/A
How many employees does your business have?
9
Does the business have more than 30% women ownership?
No
Does the business have more than 30% youth ownership (under 35 years)?
No
Financing and expansion overview
How much capital is the company currently fundraising (US$)?
>1m
What is the split between equity and debt?
93.3% debt and 6.7% equity