Sara Menker, an Ethiopia-born former Wall Street commodities trader, founded Gro Intelligence in Kenya in 2014 to fill a global gap in agricultural data, and so the startup collects huge data sets on the several variables that affect food production, from crop yield and soil quality to climatic factors.
Now armed with trillions of data points gathered from different markets, Gro is able to accurately forecast global demand, supply, and pricing of agricultural produce.
We recently raised $85 million in Series B Round co-led by @IntelCapital, @TPG, @Echovc with @DCVC and @GGVCapital also participating https://t.co/RMjJYmUYJj
— GroIntel (@GroIntel) January 11, 2021
The startup is positioning to be the world’s leading big data firm for agriculture and climate risk modeling. Menker's plan is to scale the company up to a point where it gets to define how countries and food companies plan their entire value chain, while helping to solve global climate challenges.
And having caught investors' attention, particularly those in the aforementioned Series B round, which was co-led by Intel Capital, Africa Internet Ventures (a partnership between TPG Growth and Echo VC) and the family offices of Ronald Lauder and Eric Zinterhofer, and engaged by DCVC and GGV Capital, and Rethink Food, the new funding will be help to increase the company’s presence around the world and deliver food and climate insights specific to each location.
The startup, whose expertise on Africa came in handy during the destructive locust outbreaks across East Africa, Somalia and South Sudan, has its offices in Nairobi where it was founded, and in New York, where Menker resides, and its potential clients include governments, financial institutions, companies producing agricultural inputs, and food companies.
Kenya In Focus
Population: 52.573 million (Compared to The USA's 328.259 million)
GDP: $95.503 billion (Compared to The USA's $21.433 trillion)
GDP Per Capita: $1,750 (Compared to The USA's $65,850)
