RWANDA – Rwanda based food distribution and logistics company, GET IT has obtained an investment from Chicago-based impact investor VestedWorld.
According to a report by Africa Private Equity News, GET IT is one of the largest distributors of fresh produce and dry goods in Rwanda and the East Africa region, supplying most of the leading hotels and restaurants.
The company uses off-grid cold-storage facilities to prevent spoilage of food from its own farm and other suppliers during transit.
The storage facility was an investment in an InspiraFarms facility that includes 60m2 of cold storage and a 45m2 produce reception area with docks for direct loading from and onto trucks.
The fresh food management operation incorporates pre-cooling, processing and final cooling areas.
InspiraFarms is a provider of on- and off-grid cold storage solutions in East and Southern Africa.
With the InpsiraFarms system, GET IT became Rwanda’s first ISO 22000-certified supplier of fruits and vegetables in 2017.
Meeting International Standards for food safety management has opened the company to international markets offering over 80 varieties of fresh fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs.
Earlier this year, Chandaria Capital, the professional early-stage investment arm of the Chandaria Group of companies also announced an investment in GET IT.
VestedWorld is an early-stage investment fund manager that invests in emerging market companies that have the potential to generate competitive financial returns while contributing towards the growth and development of the market in which they are located.
VestedWorld now has a dozen companies in its portfolio. It recently invested in Series A funding round of Nigeria-based agri-processor Tomato Jos, alongside Goodwell Investments, via its West Africa partner Alitheia Capital and Acumen.
Tomato Jos focused on the local production of high-quality tomato paste completed the EUR 3.9 million (US$4.2m) Series A funding round to boost its growth in processing and distribution of tomato products.
The company’s growth plans include the installation of a drip irrigation system and a processing plant that can produce 24 tons of finished products per day.
At scale, Tomato Jos will work with thousands of smallholder farmers on over 2,600 hectares of land, putting more than US$1m of direct income into the local economy of Nigeria each year.
Other companies VestedWorld has invested in include; Victory Farms, Kenyan aquaculture company; Agilis partners, Ugandan agribusiness firm; MoringaConnects, Ghanaian moringa processor.
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