Zowasel, Africa’s frontline sustainable marketplace for crops, has received $100,000 USD investment from Guinness Nigeria Plc (a subsidiary of Diageo) and Promasidor Nigeria Limited, a leading pan-African consumer packaged food manufacturer, at the UN World Food Program Zero Hunger Sprint.
The United Nations World Food Program has developed the “Zero Hunger Sprint” as a platform to enable innovators to put their ideas into action to end hunger by 2030. The goal is to empower existing agricultural startups’ innovation with additional resources to accelerate their ideas to eliminate hunger in Nigeria by 2030.
According to the UN agency, the Zero Hunger Roundtable is a multi-sector forum aimed at collectively addressing food challenges by fostering innovative approaches to end hunger, championed by entrepreneurs and the private sector.
At the 2021 Zero Hunger Sprint inaugural event, Zowasel received two investments worth $100,000 from available $250,000 investment commitment from five corporate organizations including Guinness Nigeria Plc, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Heineken/Nigeria Breweries Plc, TGI Agriculture, and the Tolaram Group. The event was held at Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria, Friday 30, July 2021.
With financing from Guinness Nigeria Plc. and Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Zowasel would be working with the UN WPF for the next six-month to receive a support program designed by the WFP Innovation Accelerator, based in Munich, as well as the Innovation Hub in Eastern Africa based in Nairobi to further develop its business model and explore partnerships opportunities.
For Zowasel, this is more than just an investment, it provides customer acquisition opportunities, partnerships with Guinness and Promasidor to join its list of marketplace off-takers and users of its traceability and sustainability software across the supply chain.
Speaking on the successful outing, co-founder and CEO, Jerry Oche said “We are glad two giants in Guinness Nigeria Plc and Promasidor find us worthy of investment, we are even more excited about the opportunity, trust, and confidence bestowed upon our company. We look forward to working and collaborating with these amazing companies to understand their sustainability goals, supply chain, and traceability needs”.
According to Mr. Bruno Gruwez, Managing Director/CEO, Promasidor Nigeria Limited; “we are delighted to invest in Zowasel and support the company’s development efforts, to build a game-changing business model to benefit the smallholder farmers, the founders and ultimately the country. When you are successful, then Promasidor will also benefit from it”
Also, speaking, Zowasel’s Co-founder and CFO, Oghenekome Umuerri revealed that the funds would help to further the development of its technology, upscale its existing Crop Test Centers, and expand its smallholder farmers’ networks across communities.
Mr. Umuerri further disclosed that the funds would enable Zowasel to consolidate its position as the sustainable pioneer marketplace for crops, focusing on supporting smallholder farmers with access to global agricultural practices to improve crop quality and increase productivity to meet buyers demand.
Zowasel’s technology is suited for both online and offline markets, offers real-time market information, supply chain transparency, and is accessible to smallholder farmers across remote communities through its remote Crop Test Center infrastructures. This enables the startup to capture traceability and sustainability data directly from the grassroots.
Taking questions during the investment presentation, Mr. Rotimi Odusola, Corporate Relations Director & Company Secretary; Guinness Nigeria Plc., stated that “Zowasel perfectly fits Guinness Nigeria Plc. goals and Diageo’s “Society 2030: Spirit of Progress” a 10-year action plan to help create a more inclusive and sustainable world, building on the legacy of its founders to create a positive impact in the company, with its communities, and for society”.
The agricultural startup is currently attracting interest from potential investors and global partner organizations to scale up its business model and develop its technology to support more value chains across African communities.
Zowasel is working with over 1.5M smallholder farmers aggregated across its network in Northern Nigeria and has recently launched operations across Nigeria’s Niger-Delta region to support smallholder farmers across the oil palm and cocoa value chains.
The company is working with national and multinational crop processors including; Olam, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc., Grand Cereals Limited, and several others. It provides a platform for both local crop sourcing and global export of commodities.
Zowasel field and value chain development partners include; Syngenta Foundation, Solidaridad Network, IITA.
