Imfino News

LONDON, 9^th of April 2018 - AgTech and ‘first mile’ distribution innovator InspiraFarms has just announced the successful closing of €2.5 million Series-A 2 equity investment. The latest round of investment will enable the B-Corp to expand its operations, offering solar-powered cold storage technology and asset financing to a broader base of perishable food producers and distributers across the developing world.

As a company that aims to deliver social, environmental and financial benefits to its customers, InspiraFarms has attracted the attention of growth-minded agribusiness entrepreneurs and impact investors since its inception in 2012.

“I had been looking for an InspiraFarms for nine years,” says Emmanuel Beau, Co-Founder and Investment Manager at Energy Access Ventures, a social venture capital firm funded in part by Schneider Electric that provides financial and advisory support to social enterprises in the African market. “InspiraFarms is unique in that it offers plug-and-play technology that is not only disruptive, but its business model is built around cultivating long-term relationships and tailoring solutions to customer needs. That’s rare.”

Co-investor Rogier Pieterse agrees: “InspiraFarms’ integrated business model is very important. It has impact in its DNA, while having a solid offering that fills a gap in the market.” As Managing Partner at Pymwymic, Europe’s first social venture capital fund, Pieterse represents a community of high net worth impact investors with a mission to create positive impact on people and the planet—but also profit in the process.

“InspiraFarms offers the technology, the knowledge and the financing to maintain sustainable impact while growing in the long run. Theirs is a first for sub-Saharan Africa,” says Pieterse, echoing Beau’s sentiment.

With Beau and Pieterse stepping into new roles as full members of InspiraFarms’ Board of Directors, the organisation will be poised for the transition from lean start-up to profit-generating company.

Speaking of InspiraFarms’ recent success, Managing Director Tim Chambers said: “InspiraFarms is now positioned to scale our ‘first mile’ distribution solution, allowing the fresh produce cold chain to be pushed upstream, closer to the source of production, making logistics and market access viable and cost-effective for small and growing agribusinesses”.

“Our lease finance and remotely managed cold storage systems will transform tropical agricultural supply chains from a quality, volume and loss reduction point of view,” Chambers added.

To find out more, contact Paula Rodriguez, Community & Customer Relationship Manager at prodriguez@epven.com

For investment enquiries, contact Tim Chambers, Managing Director at tchambers@epven.com

ABOUT INSPIRAFARMS

InspiraFarms’ mission is to transform the global food industry one small agribusiness at a time. By providing the tools, technology and expertise to significantly reduce food losses and energy costs, the Company helps agricultural entrepreneurs in emerging markets to overcome the barriers to sustainable growth, increase their independence and support their rural communities. The Company is headquartered in London, UK with offices in Italy, East Africa and South Africa.

Follow them on Twitter @inspirafarms

ABOUT ENERGY ACCESS VENTURES

EAV is a venture firm that invests in dynamic and innovative companies working to improve energy access in Africa. Its sponsors include French multinational Schneider Electric, the CDC Group (UK), the European Investment Bank, the Fonds d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises en Afrique (FISEA), the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM), Agence Francaise de Developpement, and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

Follow them on Twitter @EAVAfrica

ABOUT PYMWYMIC

Pymwymic is the “Put Your Money Where Your Meaning Is Community” of impact investors: a community of families, philanthropists and individual investors funding the new economy through the support of for-profit companies creating global solutions. Through its community gatherings and contributions to publications in the field of impact investing, Pymwymic aims to share its learnings grow support for businesses making a positive impact on people and the planet.

In 2016 the group created the Impact Investing Cooperative with its first thematic sub-fund, ‘Pymwymic Healthy Ecosystems Impact Fund’, focusing on disruptive and innovative business models that restore and conserve our ecosystems.