FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2014
Boston, MA & Nairobi, Kenya – Invested Development, an early stage impact investment fund manager, has invested in iProcure, a technology startup serving the needs of the agricultural ecosystem in Kenya. iProcure provides software to enhance sales and inventory management in rural and peri-urban agriculture markets. As a result, farmers can access high-quality farming inputs and equipment conveniently and affordably.
According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the 33 million smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa produce 80 percent of the subcontinent’s food. Despite their importance to these rapidly growing economies, many farmers rely on an inefficient, sparsely distributed network of “agro-vets,” or agriculture retail shops, to supply their inputs including seeds, fertilizer, and feed.
iProcure’s web and mobile technology solution improves agriculture retailers’ operations. It lets them manage ordering based on inventory, point of sale activities, and client profiles along with geo-located purchasing patterns, real-time agent performance and transaction analysis, and built-in mobile payments. As a result, retailers can better predict demand with business intelligence data, improve inventory management, and streamline distribution efficiency.
The African population is expected to double by 2050, with growth concentrated in urban areas; smallholder farmers will be forced to find ways to become more productive to keep up with this growing demand. While exciting innovations in seed biology, water management, weather prediction, and on-farm technology are rising to meet the demand, integrating iProcure into the supply chain will remove the challenges that are unique to Africa and finally enable farmers to access the supplies they need at the most basic level.
The investment comes from the BSP Fund, ID’s seed stage equity fund focused on investing in information and communication technology (ICT), alternative energy, and agriculture technology solutions for underserved markets. iProcure offers an ICT solution to improve the agriculture supply chain in Kenya, a great match for ID’s focus. iProcure is a graduate of the Village Capital Nairobi program in 2012, of which Invested Development is a funding partner.
iProcure joins ID’s BSP Fund portfolio of sixteen companies across eight countries, which are all committed to using technology to overcome the world’s greatest challenges.
About Invested Development:
Invested Development is an impact investment fund manager. The mission of the company is to provide risk capital investments in early stage startups with mobile technology, agriculture technology, and alternative energy innovations for underserved markets. It manages the BSP Fund, an early stage equity fund, and the Impact Factoring Fund, a working capital fund. For more information, visit http://www.investeddevelopment.com/.
About iProcure:
iProcure is an early stage company based in Nairobi, Kenya. iProcure’s web and mobile technology, is designed to optimize distribution networks and supply chains in Africa, specifically in agriculture. For more information, visit: http://iprocureafrica.co/
Contact:
Christina Tamer
Marketing and Research Manager
Invested Development
711 Atlantic Ave
Lower Level
Boston, MA 02111
+1 617 245 0570
info@investeddevelopment.com