East Africa Fruits raises $26M Series B to cut food loss across the region

What's the deal? East Africa Fruits (EAF)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised a $26 million Series B equity round led by the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, through its InfraCo arm, alongside OikocreditDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and FMODealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The round is part of a broader $40 million raise that also includes debt funding from the Schmidt Family Foundation. Existing shareholders ARAF, GoodwellDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Africa Eats, and FINCA reinvested.

What's the endgame? The Dar es Salaam-based agritech sources produce from more than 28,000 registered smallholder farmers, then aggregates, grades, stores, and processes it for distribution to over 10,000 urban retailers. It also sells under brands including Onja and Golden Banana. The money will scale its physical and digital supply chain infrastructure.

Why now? Food loss is the core problem EAF is tackling. "A third of what our farmers grow never reaches anyone's table," said founder and chief executive officer Elia Timotheo. "That is not a farming problem: it is an infrastructure problem, and it is solvable."

Where next? Beyond strengthening its Tanzania base, EAF plans to expand into Kenya. The move will "mobilise future finance into this vital sector, underpinning improved food security across the region," said Claire Jarratt, head of investment management for InfraCo.

The signal: By the funding sizes we track, a $26 million round ranks in roughly the 33rd percentile — sizeable for African agribusiness but far from the market's largest. Investors are betting that proving a commercially viable model for agri-logistics can, as FMO's Peter Byrde put it, "catalyse greater private sector investment into the sector."

Read more: africaprivateequitynews.com

Image credit: South African Tourism