Kenyan agric-tech firm, Twiga Foods, which facilitates connections between farmers and food vendors, has successfully secured an undisclosed funding amount as part of a broader business refinancing initiative.
The new funding was obtained from notable investors, including Creadev, Juven, TLcom Capital Partners, and DOB Equity. All four investors had previously participated in Twiga’s 2021 $50 million Series C funding round.
This development comes just weeks after the company faced a KES 40 million (USD 261,878.75) debt collection lawsuit from Incentro Africa, a cloud services vendor.
Twiga’s CEO, Peter Njonjo, recently addressed the recent challenges, in a now-deleted post on Medium, stating, “we have sent over 100 letters informing suppliers that we have now finalised our restructuring and refinancing, and they will finally have their long outstanding dues paid.”
This shows a shift from Twiga’s initial stance which disputed Incentro’s debt claim by asserting that the statutory demand was made in bad faith and with ulterior motives. The company deemed the lawsuit “unreasonable and motivated by malice.” However, Twiga later confirmed engaging in discussions with Incentro to resolve the debt.
During the liquidation proceedings, Twiga argued that potential harm to its reputation could discourage other suppliers. As of late 2022, Twiga had a network of over 140 suppliers.
The securing of additional funding amidst these challenges indicates Twiga’s resolve to strengthen its financial position and navigate through the complexities of its business refinancing process.
With the new funding, the agri-tech firm can effectively pursue its goal of digitally connecting farmers and food vendors, and sourcing food produce from the former while delivering directly to the latter.
