Nairobi, Kenya (9 July, 2024) – With a USD 1.6M track record of investing in impactful financial inclusion solutions for underserved communities in emerging markets, Village Capital’s Reducing Inequalities Investment Facility is proud to announce its latest investment of USD 500K in Coamana.
The Reducing Inequalities Investment Facility, backed by FMO’s MASSIF Fund, was established to promote financial inclusion by supporting innovative financial solutions and inclusive businesses. To date, the fund has invested in four impactful startups, Apontech, a Bangladesh-based company enhancing financial inclusion for factory workers; Crop2Cash, a Nigerian agtech empowering smallholder farmers; Aquarech, a Kenyan startup advancing aquaculture around Lake Victoria, and CoAmana which recently received funding as the fourth beneficiary.
Founded in 2018 by Hafsah Jumare, who spent nine years in academia and research focusing on farmers, credit, and market access, Coamana was born out of her recognition of the gap between academic data and the realities faced by farmers.
The startup leverages existing market governance structures with a top-down approach, marketing its product, Amana Market, to enhance market management. The startup has established agent networks to facilitate the onboarding of farmers and traders into the digital marketplace, ensuring the effective distribution of essential services, such as access to information, high-quality inputs, and credit, to farmers and traders.
Traditional markets are the backbone of Africa’s agricultural economy, serving as vital trading hubs for hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers. Each market operates under a governance structure that ensures smooth operations and supports local economies. Despite their importance, these markets face numerous challenges that hinder their full potential, directly affecting the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers. Coamana’s vertical SaaS solution transforms these traditional markets by digitizing their management processes, facilitating faster, safer, and more reliable transactions, and empowering market management to enhance their existing operations. With Amana Market, both farmers and traders have access to credit, real-time market information, and high-quality inputs, optimizing market efficiency. By integrating with these markets’ existing governance structures, Coamana ensures a seamless adoption process.
“This investment marks a pivotal moment for Coamana, acting as a catalyst for our future ambitions. Village Capital has been an unwavering partner, journeying with us from Nigeria to Kenya and deeply understanding the communities and markets we serve, even reaching the borders of Niger,” shared Hafsah Jumare, Founder and CEO, Coamana. “Having a partner who not only supports but truly understands our mission is both galvanizing and validating. This has been a long journey within an ecosystem that has supported us to get this far, and we are eager to enter the next chapter of our growth.”
“Village Capital is thrilled to invest in Coamana to catalyze its efforts in building the digital infrastructure for agricultural trade markets across Africa. This investment will drive greater price transparency, efficiency, market linkages, and access to finance," shared Kavon Badie, Investment Officer at Village Capital. "We chose to invest in Coamana because of their innovative approach to leveraging existing market structures to improve efficiencies. They provide farmers and traders, who are often excluded from traditional financial systems, access to essential credit and information on producing high-quality inputs, ultimately improving the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers who rely on these markets. This investment aligns perfectly with our fund's purpose of fostering financial inclusion and reducing rural inequality."
Now operating in Nigeria and Kenya, Coamana has built a robust network of agents that assist in onboarding farmers and traders to the digital marketplace. The startup’s solutions deliver significant economic benefits and enable informed decision-making by providing real-time market prices and purchase requests, optimizing sales for better returns. Additionally, the startup strengthens market resilience and fosters economic growth in rural areas by improving access to credit and future-proofing traditional markets. Instead of disrupting existing systems, Coamana focuses on enhancing and evolving these markets with digitized services, supporting their continuous improvement and long-term success.
For more information on the Reducing Inequalities Initiative Fund and our portfolio companies, contact Husein Merchant at Village Capital (husein.merchant@vilcap.com).
About Village Capital
Village Capital is reinventing the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Known for its groundbreaking approaches to supporting founders who are building solutions to emergent social, economic, and environmental challenges, VilCap unlocks critical social and financial capital for early-stage companies to maximize business and impact growth.
Village Capital has operated in sub-Saharan Africa since 2012, running over 14 accelerator programs serving entrepreneurs in 15 countries in the region. VilCap has supported more than 120 locally-based startups and 78 Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESO) working in sectors such as financial health, hardware, sustainability, and the future of work. Learn more at www.vilcap.com and follow @villagecapital.
About FMO
FMO is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a 50+ year proven track-record in empowering entrepreneurs to make local economies more inclusive, productive, resilient and sustainable. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact: Agribusiness, Food & Water, Energy, and Financial Institutions. With a total committed portfolio of EUR ~13 billion spanning over 85 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector development banks globally. For more information: please visit www.fmo.nl