Kenya-based tilapia producer Victory Farms has achieved its target of $35 million investment through its Series B round, the company has announced, as it gears up for expansion in East Africa.
The investment campaign, led by CREADEV – Creating for People, attracted venture capital investors Hesabu Capital, Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and Endeavor.
Victory Farms operates as an end-to-end aquaculture platform in East Africa, connecting producers, distributors and consumers of tilapia fish in the region.
The aquaculture group, which introduced cage fish farming to Kenya in 2014, now operates 80 branches in Kenya, and has recently launched a sister company, Kivu Choice, in Rwanda.
The company says that its approach to tilapia aquaculture can help to solve East Africa's nutritional security challenge, with the region's annual supply gap currently calculated at one million metric tons of fish.
The latest round of funding comes as the Victory Farms Group seeks to grow its businesses in Kenya and Rwanda, and possibly expand into new locations in East Africa, including Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.
"I'm honored and delighted to share the news," CEO Joseph Rehmann, Founder & Group CEO for Victory Farms, wrote in a LinkedIn post.
"As we embark on a journey to become the world's leading tilapia business, we want to highlight that this mission is not about size or scale, but about impact on people and planet. We are endeavoring to be the world's first truly regenerative aquaculture farm: improving biodiversity, sinking carbon, and building vibrant local communities," he added.
Victory Farms is sub-Saharan Africa's fastest growing fish farm, founded in 2016 and based in Homa Bay, Kenya. It is the largest producer of fish in East Africa, with a mission to feed 2 billion Africans over the next 2 decades. The company aims to do so while also working toward becoming the most sustainable fish farm on the planet.