Nigerian digital agritech platform, Farmcrowdy, gets $325,000 grant from GSMA

Farmcrowdy, Nigeria’s first and leading digital agriculture platform which allows Nigerians to venture in and sponsor agriculture, was yesterday named as a recipient of a $325,000 grant from dedicated GSMA global team Mobile for Development as part of the GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund. The award was granted at the ongoing Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, Spain.

The grant will allow the multiple award-winning startup develop a mobile app for smartphones and feature phones that will enable farmers and Technical Field Specialists interact about farm-related activities. The app will also deliver other services to farmers, such as information, electronic payments and training.

Launched in 2016, the Fund was set up to provide selected start-ups in Africa and Asia Pacific with grant funding, technical assistance and the opportunity to partner with mobile operators in order to scale their products and services into sustainable businesses with positive socio-economic impact.

Other recipients of the 2017 equity-free grant award include Ugandan Fintech startup Ensibuuko and online payment platform LipaMobile, Tanzanian Micro-Health Insurance product Jammi Africa, Kenyan education mobile platform Kytabu and Optimetriks , Zambian Musanga Logistics, Nigerian e-learning platform PrepClass, Egyptian Carpooling app Raye7 and multinational knowledge-based network, Lynk.

Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder and CEO of Farmcrowdy says, “we at Farmcrowdy are honoured to have our hard work recognised and supported by GSMA. We are thrilled about the possibilities this grant will provide as we continually strive to remain at the forefront of innovation in Agritech across Nigeria. This award will play a crucial part in the continued journey towards scaling our activities across the country while building our relationships with the telecommunication partners of GSMA across Nigeria.”

Launched just over a year ago, Farmcrowdy, the only African startup from Techstars Atlanta’s 2017 cohort, recently announced a $1million seed fund led by international and local investors including Social Capital, Cox Enterprises and Techstars Ventures. The seed fund will allow the startup to scale its operations with plans to expand beyond 8 states they operate in Nigeria, work with more than 4,000 small-scale farmers by the end of 2018 and engage 20,000 new farm followers and farm sponsors on its platform, as they participate in addressing sustainable development goals through the opportunities available in agriculture.

Farmcrowdy is an agric-tech platform that gives Nigerians the opportunity to venture in and sponsor agriculture by selecting the kind of farms they want to sponsor. Farmcrowdy uses the sponsor’s funds to secure the land, engage the farmer, plant the seeds, ensure the farmers and farm produce, complete the full farming cycle, sell the harvest and then pay the farm sponsor a return on their sponsorship. While this farm process is ongoing, the farm sponsors are able to keep track of the full-cycle by getting updates in text, pictures, and videos.

Since its launch, Farmcrowdy has been adjudged “Agro-Innovator of the Year 2016/2017” by the Nigerian Agriculture Awards as well as listed as one of the top innovative companies and institutions in Nigeria; cementing their place as game-changers within the agricultural sector.