Growsel, the award-winning nonprofit agricultural crowdfunding organization that connects underserved Base of the Pyramid smallholder farmers with lenders across the globe, and winner of the 2018 Visa Everywhere Initiative Award for Financial Inclusion (Sub Saharan Africa edition), has received a software donation from Oracle NetSuite Social Impact for growing social enterprises. With the strength of NetSuite, Growsel will be able to operate more efficiently, freeing up resources to help it focus on its core mission of connecting underserved smallholder farmers with lenders around the world.
Reacting to the donation, Jerry Oche, Founder/CEO of Growsel Microfunds Inc., remarked that “the NetSuite Social Impact software donation will surely help us cut down our administrative overhead, considering our lending portfolio which is growing rapidly, just like our community of smallholder farmers that are being administered around the world.”
Since its founding in 2017, Growsel has facilitated the connection of more than 200 smallholder farmers with over 1300 lenders, while profiling and verifying about 1.2 million smallholder farmers available for crowdfunding through its field partners in remote communities, particularly in West Africa. In pursuit of its mission of changing lives, creating opportunities connecting underserved smallholder farmers with lenders around the world, in a bid to alleviate poverty, Growsel empowers smallholder farmers through agricultural crowdfunding in developing economies, working with the assistance of local field partners and trustees.
Growsel has selected Oracle NetSuite to support its fast-growing need for a comprehensive and cloud-based international Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. Growsel will utilize Oracle NetSuite to automate many of its day-to-day business tasks, reporting and accounting needs. Through a comprehensive ERP platform, Growsel will have the ability to expedite the entry and validation of expense reports for dozens of globetrotting employees, add automation and efficiency to the organization’s lending and expense categorization, as well as access tools with greater reporting and analytics capabilities.
Previously time-consuming tasks will be streamlined to greatly reduce time spent on reporting by staff. Growsel will be able to better manage its internal processes on a departmental basis, while also providing a secondary view to donor and lenders of the organization. With access to multiple reporting methods in real-time, Growsel staff will be able to utilize tools and features that obtain lending funds, borrowers request and operating budget status at a glance.
“We value the work Growsel is doing to create a lasting change in the agricultural community,” David Geilhufe, NetSuite Senior Director and Social Impact Leader. “For over 10 years we have aimed to help more organizations do good, better. It’s through donations like these that we hope the NetSuite platform will empower organizations like Growsel to take its mission further.”
