Posted on :Wednesday , 4th September 2024

The Pepea Fund has provided an undisclosed sum of venture debt funding to Gaea Foods, a potato-processing company in Kenya, in order to help small businesses expand their supply networks and grow.

The Pepea Fund was established in 2023 to help SMEs and early-stage companies obtain funding for growth and the development of female entrepreneurs. It is administered by Goodwell Investments on behalf of Oxfam Novib.  

Gaea Foods provides chopped and peeled potatoes to some of Nairobi's best restaurants.  

The company currently employs 20 people, of which 70% are women. In the upcoming year, the workforce is expected to expand.

When we created Pepea a year ago, we stressed the fund's emphasis on investments that are gender- and environmentally-forward. According to data from our Impact SME Development Program, female business owners are more likely to provide their employees with respectable working conditions and a gender-balanced workforce. Oxfam Novib's Investments Manager, Tamara Campero, stated being in the business for over ten years, the company has developed important relationships with potato growers who view it as a possible business-to-business venture. In addition to adding value to the product and generating jobs, Gaea Foods efficiently disposes of trash by turning potato peels into animal feed and fertiliser.

My adventure as an entrepreneur began twenty years ago and has continued to be quite active ever since. Gaea Foods can continue to develop and procure from additional smallholder farmers thanks to this financing. Our activity enables us to enhance the standard of living for farmers and to contribute to the growth of the economy by creating jobs. Irene Mwangi, the managing director of Gaea Foods, stated, "We are looking forward to working closely with Goodwell and Oxfam Novib to benefit from their knowledge and expertise in SME development.

Goodwell hopes to replicate its investments in West Africa by maximising Pepea Fund's potential in the area. The investor staked up the 150 million euro uMunthu II fund in collaboration with Alitheia Capital.