Farm to Feed Raises $1.5M to Turn “Ugly” Food Into Africa’s Next Big Climate Win
- Mandilakhe Somdle
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
From pitching on the AfricArena stage in Nairobi to securing their first angel investor, this Kenyan agritech startup is proving that imperfect produce can lead to perfectly brilliant outcomes.
When Farm to Feed shared their vision at AfricArena Nairobi, the room knew instantly: this wasn’t just another pitch about food systems, this was a movement taking shape. That moment unlocked their first angel investment, helping them build momentum behind a simple but powerful mission.
Fast forward, and the women-led Kenyan startup has levelled up again, announcing a $1.5 million seed round to scale its operations across Kenya and into regional markets. If raising a round is hard, raising one while fighting food waste and climate change is Olympic-level entrepreneurship.
But that’s Farm to Feed: equal parts innovation, impact, and “why did no one fix this sooner?” energy.
The $4 Billion Problem No One Talks About (Until Now)
Across Africa, up to 40% of food never reaches a plate. Not because it’s spoiled, but because it’s… not pretty.
Yes, really. A tomato grows too small? A carrot bends left instead of right? Suddenly it’s unfit for retail shelves. Multiply that across a continent and you get billions in losses and unnecessary emissions.
Farm to Feed calls this “rescue-grade” produce, perfectly healthy, nutritious, and delicious, just not aesthetically blessed. Instead of letting farmers dump it, feed it to goats, or mourn it quietly, Farm to Feed:
Buys entire harvests, quirks and all
Channels them through a digital B2B marketplace
Connects to businesses that care about quality and price, not runway-model vegetables
It’s sustainable, efficient, and honestly, long overdue.
From COVID Chaos to Climate Innovation
Farm to Feed started during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when markets were closed and farmers watched their produce pile up with nowhere to go. Co-founder and CEO Claire van Enk launched a simple GoFundMe to buy this surplus and distribute it to families in need.
A small spark quickly turned into a system-wide rethink:
“What if we solve this every day, not only during a crisis?”
By 2021, Claire and co-founders Anouk Boertien and Zara Benosa built Farm to Feed into a commercial supply chain engine built to:
absorb full harvests
reward farmers fairly
rescue food before it’s wasted
Today, the company has:
6,500+ farmers onboarded
2.1 million kg of produce sold
247 tons of CO₂e emissions avoided
A digital backbone running from farmer app → ERP → traceability marketplace
They’re doing more with “ugly” vegetables than most startups do with Series A money.
$1.5M Raised to Scale a Beautifully Imperfect Vision
Farm to Feed’s new round, $1.27M in equity + $230K non-dilutive, was led by Delta40 Venture Studio, with Catalyst Fund, DRK Foundation, Holocene, Marula Square, 54Co, Levare Ventures, and Mercy Corps Ventures joining in.
Mercy Corps Ventures, early supporters from 2022, doubled down after seeing the company’s rapid progress.
And honestly? We get it.
Farm to Feed isn’t just tackling food waste, they’re building a climate-smart food system rooted in:
traceability
data
resilience
efficiency
Their platform tracks carbon savings, maps regional food loss, and gives farmers real-time access to pricing and logistics.
As Catalyst Fund puts it:
“Farm to Feed is transforming one of Africa’s biggest inefficiencies into one of its greatest opportunities.”
What’s Next: Convenience, Climate, and Continental Scale
With new capital, Farm to Feed is:
Expanding across Kenya
Deepening operations in high-production regions
Growing partnerships with aggregators and commercial buyers
Launching semi-processed product lines (think chopped, peeled, ready-to-use produce)
If baby carrots conquered the 90s, Farm to Feed might just own the 2020s.
Looking ahead, the team sees enormous opportunity in export markets, bringing Africa’s climate-smart produce to global buyers.
As Claire says:
“How we feed the future must be reimagined, rescued, regenerative, indigenous, and designed to deliver value at every step.”
From AfricArena Nairobi to Global Recognition
We’re incredibly proud to see Farm to Feed go from pitching on the AfricArena stage, securing their first angel investor, and gaining early ecosystem support, to now scaling with global recognition and significant capital behind them.
Their story is a reminder that innovation doesn’t always look like drones, AI, or robotics.
Sometimes it looks like a carrot with a curve.
Sometimes it looks like a pumpkin with personality.
And sometimes, it looks like a startup rewriting the future of African food systems, one imperfect vegetable at a time.
Farm to Feed isn’t just feeding people.
They’re feeding a movement.
And this $1.5 million raise is only the beginning.
Want to Be Part of the Next Big Thing?
Whether you’re a startup founder looking to raise capital, a corporate ready to collaborate, or just someone who loves being in the room where Africa’s future happens, we’ve got a seat for you.
Apply to our AfricArise Program to pitch at one of our regional summits and join a community of Africa’s boldest founders shaping the future.
Or, if you simply want to be in the room where Africa’s future happens, join us at the AfricArena Grand Summit 2025 in Cape Town this December, where investors, corporates, and changemakers collide to build the next wave of African innovation.
Because in the AfricArena network, one introduction can change everything.
Explore African startup stories at africarena.com
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