Winich Farms, a Nigerian agritech company that supplies farm grain produce to retailers, has raised $3 million in pre-series A funding to expand its order fulfillment centres and improve its technology. This is the company’s second funding in two years. 

The round was led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF), which contributed $2.5 million, with Climate Resilient Africa Fund, Marula Square, Plug and Play Tech Centre, and Tekedia Capital participating in the round. Sahel Capital provided $590,000 in debt.

Founded in 2020 by brothers Riches and Winner Attai and Chichebem Jibunoh, Winich Farms helps farmers in rural areas sell their produce to off-takers—retailers and informal processors. The company operates collection points run by agents who process orders from off-takers.

If a retailer orders 50 kilogrammes (kg) of rice on their mobile app, the order gets passed on to agents for bidding. These agents rally the local farmers within a vicinity to bring the produce to the collection points and send them to truck drivers for delivery within 24 to 72 hours.

A Winich Farms collection point run by a community agent.

The company claims it negotiates with farmers at fair prices and sells their produce to offtakers at slightly marked-up margins. It currently charges the off-taker ₦720 ($0.43) per kg of paddy rice, excluding the delivery fee. 

Winich Farms splits revenue in three: one portion goes to farmers, another to agents, and the company keeps the third.

It claims it processes monthly orders up to ₦3.7 billion ($2.2 million) and has grown its gross merchandise value (GMV) by 300% since 2022 to $30 million.

“Our growth has come from growing the number of agents on our platform. In 2022, we had about 1,000 agents. But at the start of [2024], we reached over 4,000 agents, quadrupling our growth. With more agents, we meet demand faster,” said co-founder and CEO Riches Attai.

But the current model is limiting because the company’s farmer partners are based in the northern regions, making deliveries to farther states like Lagos slower. The agritech claims it serves over 150,000 users, including farmers, agents, and truck drivers.

“If a retailer in Lagos orders produce like rice, instead of sourcing from farmers in Kebbi or Kaduna which increases the delivery time due to the distance, the order is instead processed from Ondo state that is closer.”

Winich Farms’ workaround is to set up fulfillment centres. The company will use the debt funding to lease buildings that will serve as regional distribution hubs across the six geo-political areas of Nigeria. With the fulfillment centres, the company will reduce delivery time to off-takers.

The agritech also provides access to credit by connecting farmers who complete a minimum of three supply cycles to financial institution partners to provide financing. The company issues Verve cards to rural, underbanked farmers in partnership with Sterling Bank, allowing payments directly into their accounts. It plans to issue 195,000 cards in the coming months.

Winich Farms will use the equity funding to improve its technology and scale its card operations to compete in Africa’s growing agritech market with other players like ThriveAgric, AgroMall, and Zowasel. 

“Investing in Winich Farms aligns with our goal at ARAF of growing local businesses that support smallholder farmers towards increased productivity, sustainable agricultural development, better livelihoods, and increased food security,” said Tamer El-Raghy, managing director of ARAF.

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