Twiga Foods

Kenya's fresh produce supply chain involved up to seven middlemen between farmer and consumer, each adding cost and waste. Informal traders in Nairobi's markets had no reliable supplier, prices fluctuated daily, and farmers received as little as 20% of the retail price. Post-harvest losses exceeded 40% for perishable goods.

Twiga built a B2B marketplace connecting farmers directly to urban retailers. Using a mobile-first ordering platform and a hub-and-spoke logistics network, they aimed to eliminate middlemen. Farmers listed produce on the platform, vendors ordered via USSD or app, and Twiga handled aggregation, quality control, and last-mile delivery from centralized warehouses.

Reached $100M+ in annual GMV at peak. Served 100,000+ vendors across Nairobi. Raised over $150M from Goldman Sachs, IFC, and Creadev. However, struggled with unit economics as logistics costs in Nairobi proved higher than projected, leading to significant restructuring in 2024.

Growth without unit economics is a ticking clock. Scaling too fast before proving profitable delivery in a single city was the mistake. The VC playbook of blitz-scale first, monetize later doesn't translate to physical logistics in African cities where infrastructure costs are unpredictable.