AgroBarn was recently named the winner of the 2019 edition of FCMB Wennovation Agritech Incubation Program. Techawk had an interview with the founder of AgroBarn, Oscar Obiora Udebuana. He shares his experiences at the agritech Incubation Program and much more. excerpts.
Can you tell us about AgroBarn?
AgroBarn was Co-founded in 2016 by Oscar Obiora Udebuana. AgroBarn is simply a supply chain and value company. At our supply chain, we are into livestock production, processing and packaging and on the supply chain, we are actually using the power of simple technology to actually provide the ease of end to end process for farmers and bigger processors.
We are providing agricultural extension market information, managerial support, and access to markets & financial services to rural farmers with unique mobile technologies.
Using their access to scientific data and a partnership with financial institutions and even governments, AgroBarn intends to turn information into insights for the farmers and present it to them in a convenient manner that will enable precise decision making on the farm and also offer them unique services like access to market, agricultural credit, index insurance and warehousing so as to get more productivity and value out of their farming and thereby guarantee food security and improve living standards.
AgroBarn brings together all the stakeholders and major players in the agricultural value chain as well as the overall industry under one platform. This involves the farmer, buyers & agro-industries, research agencies, governments and financial institutions.
How will you describe the reception of AgroBarn so far?
Actually, we started 3 years ago as a supply chain company, and the reception has been high, we have evolved from the usual supply chain in livestock production, to now offering low-cost services to farmers.
What motivated you to establish an agtech startup?
As a farmer who had ventured into livestock production earlier, we faced some challenges such as access to larger markets, farm inventory management and also lack of proper information. We know that if we are facing these major issues, then there are thousands of other smallholder farmers who are facing these same issues. We saw the opportunity where others saw problems and so we started redefining the landscape of solving end to end problems for both small and bigger farms.
What are the advantages of digitizing Nigeria’s Agriculture sector?
There has been so much advancement in the technological space. Technology has been used to significantly scale the productivity of agriculture, at the same time, it has helped farmers make better decisions with the quality of the information provided. Digitizing agriculture has helped reduce both pre-harvest and post-harvest losses and damages, which has directly contributed to an increase in yield, productivity and livelihood for the farmers and others in the agricultural value chain.
How did you fund your startup? What were your fears when starting off?
Funding startup was not easy then, we focused on bootstrapping the business, by first building a client base, instead of looking for investors. We want to be sure, we are first providing workable solutions for our users, which also increases our valuation.
The mistake most startups make these days is to seek for funding without getting or perfecting their strategy, as regards customer acquisition, market penetration and proper management.
For me there was no fear in starting up, it was a calling, and when you are called, which is usually fortified with passion and hard work, truth is odds are high that you will scale and succeed despite the challenges and set-back which are bound to come. But you must consistently move progressively.
Let’s talk about your win at the FCMB Wennovation Agritech Incubation Program. Take us through the process of applying, experience at the bootcamp and winning. Did you think you stood a chance of winning? What are your takeaways?
Winning the 2019 FCMB Wennovation Agritech Incubation Program was indeed an eye-opener. I remembered I got to apply for it, close to the deadline.
After then I was selected for the semi-final stage. At this point, we were asked to undergo an immersion exercise, of which this was done, and when the final list came out, I was not selected. After a week, I got an email, re-inviting me to the program, there I knew, it was going to end well. It was like a second chance to prove that my concept is working.
After the 2 weeks intensive Bootcamp, which was also helpful in training and exposing us to some of the best modern practices in agritech and also giving us a platform to network and connect to other young brilliant agritech entrepreneurs.
After the Bootcamp was the demo day, which gave us the platform for all competitors to pitch their business and then we won and the rest was history. We want to use this medium to FCMB and Wennovation Hub for this opportunity and support. It was indeed well appreciated with deep thanks.
What are the challenges of running AgroBarn? Where do you see Agrobarn in the next five years?
Well. There are challenges in every business, especially in agriculture, but what my team and I have done is to see possibilities and opportunities in those problems.
I usually say that for every time an entrepreneur solves a critical problem, he unknowingly creates another. In the next 5 years, we hope to break and lead the frontiers of the agritech space, especially in livestock production. Also, we hope to have scaled our technology across several smallholders’ farmers, bigger farmers and processors.
We understand the urgency of the need we are solving. Also due to technological innovation and evolution, we will innovate on the service we provide to meet with what is obtainable in the global standards
