ReelFruit, Nigeria’s leading dried fruit snack company, announced a Series A funding of $3M today.
The high-quality dried fruit brand will use the investment to increase product offerings, expand production, and increase exports to the US and other international markets in the first year.
The funding round was piloted by Alitheia IDF which invested US$2m while other investors included Flying Doctor Healthcare Investment Company and Samata Capital.
Speaking on the round and how it will help scale production, Affiong Williams, CEO/Founder, ReelFruit, said, “This investment takes ReelFruit to the next level.
We can meet increased demand for our products and tackle one of our biggest challenges – raw material supply. We’re thrilled that this will unleash a greater impact on our value chain by increasing farmer incomes and creating up to 300 decent jobs for Nigerians.”
Tokunboh Ishmael, Co-Founder, Alitheia, spoke on the perceived impact the partnership will have in Nigeria’s food production sector “Alitheia IDF is proud to support ReelFruit’s ongoing efforts to boost food production in Nigeria and positively impact communities through deliberate partnerships with local farmers, distributors, and retailers.
The investment will strengthen the company to unlock further growth, upskill farmers and improve economic outcomes for thousands of women who play a significant role in the production of ReelFruit’s products.”
As part of its plans to expand, ReelFruit plans on acquiring a factory in Ogun State to increase production. It currently employs about 85 employees, and the factory will hire over 200 people in its first year.
ReelFruit will also secure high quality raw materials and form an agro-extension services program for 250 registered pineapple and mango producers in order to deepen its existing work with Nigerian fruit farmers.
The agro-extension services program will help support a steady supply of high-quality raw material for the factory and boost fruit yields.
Reelfruit will further diversify its local and international sales channels to meet the high demand for its products by launching an e-commerce channel for direct US sales and unlocking more B2B opportunities, including co-packing and white-labelling to support the national push for import substitution.
That way, dependence on imports will be reduced because local buyers will be able to buy dried fruit locally.
ReelFruit is a leader in the dried fruit snack industry and continues to be a pioneer in the market since its inception in 2012.
It aims to produce tasty and healthy snacks for its customers across the globe.
ReelFruit runs a factory in Yaba, Lagos, and retails in more than 450 outlets in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. It has also exported to the US, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.
Its best-selling products include the famous Gently Dried Mango, Sweetened Coconut Flakes, and Fruit & Nut Mix.
Don’t miss important articles during the week. Subscribe to techbuild.africa weekly digest for updates.
