Kenyan agritech startup Farm to Feed has secured $1.5M in seed funding to expand its operations, which are focused on reducing food loss by creating a reliable market for surplus and imperfectly shaped produce.
The investment consists of $1.27M in equity and $230,000 in non-dilutive funding from DEG’s DeveloPPP Ventures programme.
The equity round was led by Delta40 Venture Studio, with participation from the DRK Foundation, Catalyst Fund, Holocene, Marula Square, 54Co, Levare Ventures, and Mercy Corps Ventures.
Founded in 2021 by CEO Claire Van Enk, Anouk Boertien, and Zara Benosa, Farm to Feed aims to address the inefficiencies in Africa’s food system, where a significant portion of produce is lost post-harvest, while smallholder farmer incomes remain low.
Commercialising Surplus
Farm to Feed operates a tech-enabled B2B platform that aggregates the “full harvest” directly from smallholder farmers. This includes produce that would typically be rejected by mainstream buyers for cosmetic reasons (e.g., being the “wrong” size or shape) or because it is simple surplus.
The company then sells this aggregated produce to a network of businesses, including restaurants, caterers, and food processors.
This model is designed to provide farmers with a new and reliable income stream for produce that would otherwise be lost, while also reducing the methane emissions associated with rotting food.
To date, the company reports it has onboarded 6,500 farmers onto its platform and sold over 2.1 million kilograms of produce. It also states it has seen 100% year-on-year growth and avoided 247 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions.
The new capital, which follows a $1M pre-seed round, will be used to scale Farm to Feed’s operations across Kenya and support its entry into new regional markets.
A key part of the expansion involves strengthening its digital platform and expanding a new semi-processed product line. This move into value addition is intended to unlock higher-value local and global markets for the farmers’ produce.
“This funding allows us to expand our reach, connecting more farmers to a market that is increasingly demanding sustainably produced food,” said Claire Van Enk, CEO and founder of Farm to Feed. “As we scale, technology remains at the core of our growth, and we’re excited to enhance our systems to support expansion beyond borders.”
Why the Investors Invested
For investors, Farm to Feed’s model targets both climate resilience and market efficiency.
“Farm to Feed maximizes farmer incomes by purchasing the full harvest while ensuring that every gram of produce creates value,” said Lyndsay Holley Handler, cofounder and managing partner of Delta40 Venture Studio. “Whether through exports, B2B sales, or value addition, Farm to Feed is creating a true win-win-win for farmers, businesses, and the planet.”
Maelis Carraro, founder and managing partner at Catalyst Fund, which was the company’s first institutional investor, added: “Farm to Feed is transforming one of Africa’s biggest inefficiencies into one of its greatest opportunities… we’ve seen Claire and her team turn a bold vision into a scalable, tech-enabled solution that directly boosts farmer incomes, cuts emissions, and strengthens food system resilience.”