Apollo, Kenyan Agri-tech firm receives $1 million debt financing

Kenyan based Agritech startup, Apollo celebrates securing $1 million debt financing to help small-scale farmers.

The Agri-Business Capital Fund (ABC Fund), led the funding round.

Collectively, the Agritech start-up had accumulated over $10 million in seed funding, $460,000 in debt finance in 2018, and $6 million in Series A fundraising in 2020.

Apollo provides small-scale farmers with loans, farming inputs, insurance features and an array of services to help execute their practices.

Additionally, they combine machine learning and satellite data to offer assistance to their customers through their entire lifecycle.

Eli Pollak, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Benjamin Njenga, Chief Customer Officer (CCO), and Earl Suaver, Chief Technological Officer (CTO), founded the Nairobi-based agritech startup in 2015. Their aim was to help Kenyan farmers maximize their profits through the services they are able to offer.

As much as the Covid-19 pandemic affected the globe negatively, the start-up claims to have tripled its customer base in the last year. Furthermore, Apollo shares that they service 60,000 farmers at the moment.

Emanuele Santi, fund manager for the ABC Fund at Bamboo Capital added, “Apollo is an excellent example of a technology-driven firm that is making a meaningful difference in the lives of marginalized farmers in Kenya.”

Customers mainly get on-board via digital marketing channels and thereafter join through the company’s app.

“This funding will enable us to help more small-scale farmers access an array high-quality services and increase income,” said Eli Pollak, CEO of Apollo Agriculture.