Which of the dozens of fast-growing companies in the portfolio grew the most in 2021? There are two ways to answer that question.
Agro Supply, by percentage
Measured by percentage, Agro Supply grew the fastest, from $217,000 of of revenue in 2020 to just over $1 million in 2021. Nearly five-fold for the year.
This is a company with a unique model for smallholder farmers to invest in agriculture. If you’ve not listened to the podcast or watched the video from the farmers’ fields, they are below.
The Opportunity is Africa podcast (2021)
Listen to “Ogwal Joseph – The Opportunity is Investing in Agriculture” on Spreaker.In the field with Agro Supply (2020)
East Africa Fruits, by total revenues
Another way to measure growth is simply subtracting the total revenue in 2020 from the total in 2021. By that measure, East Africa Fruits had the most growth, and has been the leader by that measure for many years. Revenues grew 72% from $3.2 million in 2020 to over $5.5 million in 2021.
What is most exciting about this company is that we knew them back in 2014 when they finished their first year of operations with just $100,000 of revenues. They attended Fledge back then in early 2014 and Fledge was the very first investor in this company. Africa Eats now owns those shares and we’re looking forward to the day when this company is earning $100 million per year, growing a thousand-fold from those early days.
If you missed the interview on The Opportunity is Africa back in 2019, it is below, along with the now very-dated site visit video from 2019. The company is now more than five time larger, with thousands of more farmers, thousands more customers, and a lot more automation to reach the larger scale.
