According to recent news, Kenyan startup Apollo Agriculture has secured US$500,000 in funding from Dutch Development Bank FMO and the Rabobank Foundation to fund harvesting cycles, further develop its credit model, and expand geographically.
The funding comes in the form of a US$250,000 convertible grant from the FMO MASSIF Fund and a US$250,000 loan from the Rabobank Foundation.
Apollo helps farmers in emerging markets maximize their profits. Apollo supplies small Kenyan farmers with high-quality farming inputs on credit, crop insurance and voice-based training, using a “high tech, low touch” model by leveraging advances in mobile money, machine learning and remote sensing technology.
The combination of different services results in a new business model for farmer finance that has the potential to reduce both the risks and operational costs of lending significantly and at scale. Building analytical models on, amongst others, remote sensing helps to reach previously unbanked farmers. This approach fits very well in the innovation strategy of the Rabobank Foundation.
Source: Disrupt Africa
