Kenya’s Apollo Agriculture raises $6M Series A led by Anthemis
Summary
The insurance they need to protect themselves in case of a bad yearand then, ultimately, the financing, Apollo Agriculture CEO Eli Pollak told TechCrunch on a call.Apollos addressable market includes the many smallholder farmers across Kenyas population of 53 million. The problem its helping them solve is a lack of access to the tech and resources to achieve better results on their plots.The startup has engineered its own app, platform and outreach program to connect with Kenyas farmers. The farm pays a fixed price for the package, which comes due at harvestthat includes everything and theres no hidden fees, said Pollak.On deploying the $6 million in Series A financing, Its really about continuing to invest in growth. That means hiring, investing in Apollos tech and growing the startups sales and marketing efforts.Number two is really strengthening our balance sheet to be able to continue raising the working capital that we need to lend to customers, Pollak said.For the moment, expansion in Africa beyond Kenya is in the cards but not in the near-term. So some of our plans for immediate expansion are on a temporary pause as we wait to see things shake out with with COVID.Apollo Agricultures drive to boost the output and earnings of Africas smallholder farmers is born out of the common interests of its co-founders.Pollak is an American who studied engineering at Stanford University and went to work in agronomy in the U.S. with The Climate Corporation.