AgTech Startups : Ag Tech Products & AgTech Services News
AgTech startup WeFarm secures £1.3m in seed round led by LocalGlobe
Agtech startup WeFarm reaches over 100,000 users in their farmer-to-farmer mobile platform
- WeFarm enables small-scale farmers to access crowdsourced advice without internet
- More than 100,000 farmers now use the service across Kenya, Uganda and Peru, with more signing up daily
- Investment round led by LocalGlobe, founded by former Index Ventures partners Robin and Saul Klein
- WeFarm’s fundraise bolsters the fast-growing UK agtech sector, worth an estimated GBP 14.3 billion according to the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
WeFarm, a peer-to-peer agtech network that enables small-scale farmers to access and share vital agricultural information even without internet, has reached over 100,000 users and secured GBP 1.3 million in seed funding.
The round is led by LocalGlobe, a UK-based venture capital firm focused on seed investing, whose other investments include Citymapper, Lovefilm, Moo, TweetDeck, TransferWise and Zoopla. The seed round will go towards bringing the benefits of WeFarm to thousands of new farmers.
Approximately 500 million small-scale farmers around the world provide over 70% of the world’s food. However, up to 90% have no access to the internet and they are often isolated and lack access to even basic agricultural information and new ideas.
WeFarm has developed a peer-to-peer mobile network which enables small-scale farmers to access crowdsourced information and advice from other farmers, even when offline. By sending a free SMS, farmers can receive accurate answers to any agricultural queries. The service uses machine learning technology to connect incoming questions to those users on the system who have the most relevant knowledge. Topics discussed on the network range from how to stop baby chicks from dying to where to find a market to sell onions.
LocalGlobe partner Saul Klein said, “WeFarm is building and empowering a community of farmers, dramatically improving their experience of obtaining advice. In doing so, WeFarm has created an SMS and web-based network that’s enjoying real user growth and engagement. We believe that this network, whether delivered on feature or smart phones, will, over time, become an important channel for farmers into the wider food supply chain. We are thrilled that WeFarm has reached over 100,000 users and look forward to working with Kenny and his team.”
