[Dhaka, September 03, 2024] iFarmer, the largest agritech startup, received an investment from the emerging market-focused venture capital firm Razor Capital. This investment is part of Razor Capital’s Series A funding, which recognizes the importance of agritech sector in Bangladesh as a key sector to help farmers with financial inclusion and position iFarmer to become the largest network of agriculture value chain actors in Bangladesh.
Through its latest investment into iFarmer, Razor Capital has doubled down on its commitment to Bangladesh. Oussama Glilah, Managing Partner of Razor Capital, who has access to extensive agriculture knowledge through his family-owned business, Fresh Del Monte (NYSE: FDP), has joined the board of directors of iFarmer as a full board member. He expressed, “At Razor Capital, we maintain a strong belief in the potential Bangladesh holds, having started investing in 2016. Currently, the country is going through a challenging period, but we are one of the few international VCs who continue to proudly invest in Bangladesh. We stand behind our founders, partners, and co-investors with confidence in their ability to push their companies and nation towards shared prosperity and success.”
Founded by Fahad Ifaz and Jamil Akbar in 2019, iFarmer is a full-stack agriculture startup that delivers services ranging from the distribution of agricultural inputs, customized farm advisory, access to financial services, and market linkages to sell farmers’ produce. The current funding round will help iFarmer reach more farmers, expand the company’s supply chain capabilities, including the export market, and invest in more climate-smart private-label agricultural inputs with appropriate advisory services. Agriculture is a $50 billion industry in Bangladesh, with about 16.5 million farmers contributing to this sector. To date, iFarmer has facilitated $53.5 million in financing for farmers, moving around 12,000 tons per month of farm produce from farmers to buyers.
A fast-growing population and climate change mean Bangladeshi farmers need to adopt technology quickly to improve and maintain their yields. iFarmer uses a data- and tech-enabled model combined with 700+ physical touchpoints, known as ‘iFarmer Centers,’ to reach more than 150,000 farmers directly. Fahad Ifaz, CEO, Co-Founder, iFarmer, stated, “We have made significant progress in streamlining our operations over the years, including our focus on consolidating all iFarmer services through the iFarmer Centers. We have also worked on our tech and data stack to ensure better data-driven decision-making across the board.”
Razor Capital’s investment into iFarmer marks their seventh portfolio company in Bangladesh. Afshin Moayed, Managing Partner, Razor Capital, said, “The agriculture sector in Bangladesh is on the brink of a massive technological transformation. iFarmer, being one of the earlier players in the agritech scene in the country, has the right experience and skills to leverage the change in trends to build the next-gen product in the agricultural sector. We are privileged to have the opportunity to support iFarmer in fulfilling their vision.”