Kenyan tech startup iProcure is expanding into Tanzania through a partnership with the Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA).
Launched in 2013, iProcure has built a distribution infrastructure that connects major agricultural input suppliers directly to local agro-dealers through its digital platform.
The key advantage of iProcure for farmers is that it cuts out brokers in the supply chain in the delivery of fertilizer and seeds. This results in discounts of up to 25 per cent compared to the market rates.
The startup last year raised a US$10.2 million Series B funding round to support its expansion into new markets.
iProcure’s entry into Tanzania marks its first expansion outside Kenya. Its partner in the expansion FtMA, is a consortium of public and private institutions that aims to increase income and strengthen the resilience of smallholders while simultaneously increasing commercial viability for all value chain stakeholders.
To achieve this, FtMA supports a network of last-mile service providers called Farmer Service Centres (FSCs), which act as key service hubs that provide access to demand-driven services such as quality inputs, weather and planting advisory information, affordable financing, handling and storage solutions, as well as timely market connections, thereby guiding producers’ transition from having a surplus or surplus potential to commercial farming. The partnership between iProcure and FtMA is expected to ease access to supplies and services to over 125,000 farmers in Tanzania.
iProcure will offer its supply-chain tracking technology and business management software solutions to 100 Tanzanian agro-dealers to enhance their operational efficiency and supply traceability. The partnership aims to deploy iProcure solutions to 100 FtMA Farmer Service Centers by November 2023.
“iProcure has had its sights set on Tanzania and this partnership with FtMA presents the perfect opportunity to roll out our technology to an established network of agro-dealers. FtMA shares our vision of digitising agriculture, helping farmers, and improving supply chains, so we are excited to enter this new market alongside them,” said Niraj Varia, iProcure’s CEO.
Mads Lofvall, managing director of FtMA, said, at its core, the organisation aimed to bridge the gap between service delivery and market access at the first and last mile.
“Digitalising the work of our Farmer Service Centres is key to bridging this gap, and we are looking forward to seeing how our FSCs and farmers will benefit from this new partnership,” he said.
