Philippine agritech firm rakes in $1.7m in seed money

Agriculture – including forestry and fisheries – is one of the most important sectors in the Philippines. In 2021, it accounted for US$32.4 billion or 9.6% of the country’s gross domestic product and 24% of its working population.

However, the sector still relies on traditional supply chain methods despite its potential.

In 2019, Mayani was established by several serial entrepreneurs to digitalize the system.

The company provides a marketplace to connect farmers with individual and enterprise customers. It currently has more than 139,000 farmers and over 11,000 customers on its platform, including businesses such as Shell, Robinsons Group, and Kopiko.

Mayani team / Photo credit: Mayani

Recently, Mayani raised US$1.7 million in a seed funding round led by Silicon Valley-based agritech investor AgFunder, with participation from Atlas Ventures and Accelerating Asia Ventures. The deal marks AgFunder’s first investment in the Philippines.

In a statement, Mayani said that it has started discussions to raise a series A funding round.

Distribute perfect and imperfect crops

The startup was established by Jeff Barreiro, JT Solis, Josef Amarra, Juan Lorenzo Villanueva, and Ochie San Juan.

It initially operated in Southern Luzon by focusing on lettuce and eggplant farms. It then expanded to handle more products such as poultry, fruits, and coffee.

Aside from the high-quality produce, the firm also distributes “imperfect crops” such as crooked carrots and small potatoes. In total, it has delivered 6.5 tonnes of these kinds of products to individual customers and more than 40 tonnes to the B2B segment.

See also: Mapping Indonesia’s key agritech players

Barreiro said that opening access to the market marks only the first step in his vision. The company plans to set up an ecosystem to deal with competitors and use various data points to sell agricultural input and build financing models.

“We’re building the bedrock upon which we could drive more traction and positive impact,” added Barreiro.

Other investors in Mayani’s seed round include: