The world鈥檚 largest platform for small-scale farmers will expand its SMS service into听an online platform following听an 拢8听尘颈濒濒颈辞苍听funding injection.听
Since 2015,听Wefarm听has provided 2.5 million farmers with a free, AI-driven SMS tool to connect them with each other and a trusted marketplace.听This is part of an ongoing trend of听听offered to improve agricultural businesses.
The round was led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from new and existing investors, including True Ventures,听Rabo Frontier Ventures,听LocalGlobe, June Fund and听AgFunder. This round of investment brings听奥别蹿补谤尘鈥檚听total funding to $32m.听
Over the last few years,听奥别蹿补谤尘鈥檚听platform听has听enabled听farmers听–听vital听for the world鈥檚 food production听–听to connect with one another and leverage the power of their community.听听
Millions of听these听farmers can combine their knowledge and buying power as they tackle global challenges that are impacting their yields听such as climate change, limited soil fertility and growing demands for food worldwide.听听
奥别蹿补谤尘鈥檚听platform enables farmers to connect to their community, so they can know more, buy smarter, and sell听better. To date, 2.5 million farmers have connected with one another for free and without access to the internet via the听Wefarm听SMS platform.听听
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The company pioneered this offline technology for the market in 2015. Over 37 million knowledge-sharing听conversations have taken place on the听Wefarm听SMS service, while the marketplace has generated $29m听in sales.听听
The online expansion of the SMS service features a forum-based platform. This will enable farmers to work together to solve problems, support听each other, and aggregate their buying and selling power to change the global supply chain.听
鈥�Wefarm听is building the definitive platform and network for the world’s biggest vertical,鈥� said听founder听and CEO Kenny Ewan. 鈥淭his is perhaps the largest community on Earth and yet it鈥檚 been vastly underserved by tech.听听
鈥�Today, the community is ready to expand into an online space with us. We have years of learnings and millions of data points to strengthen our听first-mover advantage as we build the online expansion of听Wefarm听for hundreds of millions of farmers.听
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Kamran Adle,听early stage听investor at Octopus听Ventures, added:听鈥淏y building a highly engaged community of听millions of small-holder farmers,听Wefarm听has created a powerful platform providing greater access to vital knowledge and information, which allows farmers to unlock greater economic potential from their land.听
鈥淚n practice that might mean understanding which fertilisers work best, what the market price is for certain goods, or new farming techniques that result in better yields, all of which can make a听significant difference to livelihoods.听听
鈥�It鈥檚 also an听enormous market with more than 400 million small-holder farmers globally who collectively spend around $400 billion on farming inputs.听听
鈥�There is a huge opportunity for Kenny and the team at听Wefarm听to achieve incredible scale and we鈥檙e excited for the launch听of its digital platform which will further accelerate growth.鈥�听