Complete Farmer’s €2.2M raise signals Africa’s shift toward full-stack agtech

Ghana’s agri-tech startup Complete Farmer has secured a €2.2 million (about $2.5 million) investment from the European Union through the AgriFI programme. The funding will enable the startup to build six rural fulfilment centres across five northern regions of Ghana, serving 5,000 farmers initially and scaling to 50,000 by 2028.

“Better infrastructure and digital platforms mean better access to quality seeds, tools, expert advice, and markets,” said EU Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly.

Unlike many African agtech startups that rely solely on digital platforms to connect farmers to services, Complete Farmer is building a vertically integrated ecosystem. Its fulfillment centres will not only provide access to inputs and storage but also offer expert agronomy support, data tools, and logistics. This physical-digital blend, sometimes called a “full-stack agtech” approach, is increasingly recognised as necessary to overcome Africa’s fragmented agricultural supply chains.

This marks a shift from earlier agtech models in Africa. For example, Nigeria’s Farmcrowdy started as a crowdfunding platform for farm projects but was forced to expand its services after facing issues with farmer repayments and delivery logistics. Similarly, Kenya’s Apollo Agriculture offers farmers inputs, insurance, and credit through mobile technology but relies on external partners for distribution.

The funding is part of the €10 million AgriFI Ghana Country Window, a collaboration between the EU and EDFI Management Company, designed to catalyze investment into climate-smart, inclusive agri-enterprises. Northern Ghana was chosen due to its climate vulnerability, high levels of poverty among rural populations, and limited market access for farmers.

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Complete Farmer aims to close the last-mile delivery gap that has hampered agricultural growth in many parts of the continent. Africa’s agtech ecosystem has seen a surge in innovation and funding. According to a GSMA 2023 report, over 60% of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to structured input systems, despite the rise of mobile solutions.

The report notes that while digital tools improve visibility and access, they often struggle with scale due to a lack of physical distribution infrastructure particularly in landlocked or remote regions. Complete Farmer’s model directly tackles this challenge.

Other players like Releaf (Nigeria), which focuses on sourcing and processing crops with industrial clients, are taking more asset-light routes. This €2.2 million AgriFI investment builds on the nearly $10 million Complete Farmer raised in private funding in 2023 to scale its operations in Ghana and the broader West African market.