The coronavirus pandemic brings more than a healthcare crisis to Africa, it brings disruptions to the food supply chain that will likely cause widespread hunger and starvation.
The food system is already far from ideal, with (at least) 40% of that food never being eaten due to post-harvest losses (Rockefeller Foundation studies).
Adding to these issues are the friction of closed borders, lockdowns, and lost revenues from the best paying customers: hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and safaris.
Pre-pandemic, there was far too much friction in the early-stage financial markets to fund the food/ag supply chain. Now these food companies are essential services and the only chance to prevent widespread hunger.
A solution for all these issues is Africa Eats, a holding company with a diverse set of African food/ag companies supporting hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers, feeding millions of Africans.
An agile holding company that can efficiently put capital to work to keep the food supply running.
Africa Eats does not try solving this problem from scratch, but instead begins with 27 fledglings (graduates) of Fledge, the global network of conscious company accelerators. 27 young, for-profit, growing companies chosen from thousands as most likely to succeed, with impact embedded in their product or service, and who have all received two months of intense training, capital, and follow-on support. 27 companies which in 2019 earned over $7 million in aggregate revenues and which worked directly with over 100,000 smallholder farmers.
Contact us if you would like more information.
This week we gathered together the (co)founders and managers of our portfolio companies under a tent in Nairobi, Kenya. Over 50 attendees, flying and driving in from 10 countries across the continent. Over two days we worked together to discover new common challenges, to solve issues, and to find new ways to work together to seize the opportunities building the food/ag supply chain across Africa...
Africa Eats began with a portfolio of 27 companies, all graduates of a Fledge accelerator program. Or more specifically, all with founders who attended a Fledge accelerator somewhere in the world, sometime since 2014. A few of these entrepreneurs founded more than one company, and while a few of those were included in the original 27, a few companies have been created since then. The 28th company...
From the founders of Geossy comes Amuria Honey, a new honey processor based in the Amuria District of Uganda.
Podcast #1 Wishes Granted, interviews of the top impact funders so that entrepreneurs and funders, no matter what continent they are on, can connect and build a great future. Today we talked about Africa Eats which is not an investment fund but a holding company–a totally new way to provide capital to entrepreneurs that I think we will see a lot more of. You can best think of Africa Eats as...
Today we launch a crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder, leveraging the American crowdfunding laws that let anyone anywhere in the world invest (legal-disclosure). Mid way through Day 1, and the total pledged investments is $326,178 toward our initial goal of $500,000. Pleas help us surpass that goal this week. Details on the company and investment opportunity are at Minimum investment is just $100...
Bees play an important role in Africa’s agricultural system, where they pollinate 80% of flowering plants and one-third of food crops. The economic benefits of bee pollination are also clear: The yields of major cash crops, such as sesame and cotton, increased by 60% in Burkina Faso when bees pollinated them. By fully investing in this value chain, top-producing African countries could earn...
There are so many incredible stories to share at Africa Eats. Here is a sampling of the type of solutions we’ve invested in. Homegrown, for-profit solutions with measurable impacts lessening hunger and poverty across Africa.
For more stories, listen to The Opportunity is Africa, a podcast brought to you by Africa Eats
Africa Eats was in the news this weekend: Novel Holding Company Africa Eats Has Raised $1.8 Million For Its Impact Startups Anne Field of Forbes did a lovely job explaining why the company was formed, how it is tackling hunger and poverty, and how the holding company model generally works. And note that between the time of the interview and publication, three more investors committed another...
What do 27 baby elephant companies do with $2 million of growth capital? They grow. Fast. Africa Eats Ltd. began just over a year ago with 27 fledglings all growing, but nearly all lacking the resources to grow as quickly as they desired. A year later, this novel investment holding company has raised over $2 million to help meet those needs. Where did that money go? Operational capital –...
Zebra’s may fix what Unicorns break, but that hasn’t stopped the investing world from their focus on hunting unicorns. Maybe a little in the impact investing space, but there the world of young companies is split into “startups” and “SMEs” with the latter still looked upon as potential unicorns and the latter often derided as unworthy of investment. Rather than debate either of those two...
