South African agri-tech startup Nile has raised USD 11.3 M ZAR 200 M in a fresh funding round to scale its digital agricultural marketplace across Southern Africa, betting that technology can bring coherence and capital into one of the continent's most chaotic value chains.
The round was led by the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, with participation from FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, and existing investor Platform Investment Partners. This brings Nile's total raised to over USD 16 M since its founding in 2021.
At its core, Nile is a digital B2B marketplace designed to remove the layers of inefficiency that have historically plagued African agriculture. Price opacity, delayed payments, excessive food waste, and too many middlemen between farm and fork are persistent problems.
What started as an online produce exchange has quietly evolved into a one-stop agri-commerce platform, bundling trade, inputs, logistics, and even credit under one interface.
It's a compelling pitch. By streamlining fragmented supply chains, Nile helps farmers capture more value and access a wider pool of buyers, including export markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
