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Wefarm operated as a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing social network designed for smallholder farmers globally. The platform allowed users to exchange agricultural tips and ask questions, primarily through SMS, connecting farmers in rural areas without consistent internet access. Its core technology leveraged machine learning algorithms to intelligently route inquiries to the most relevant responders within the network.
The initiative began in 2010 as a project of the Cafédirect Producers Foundation, a British charity focused on supporting smallholder tea, coffee, and cocoa farmers. It was piloted between 2011 and 2012, initially supported by funding from the Nominet Trust. Wefarm later spun out as a social enterprise subsidiary of the Cafédirect Producers Foundation in January 2015, aiming for greater scalability.
Smallholder farmers in the developing world, particularly in regions like Kenya, Uganda, and Peru, utilized Wefarm to access vital information. The company's vision centered on fostering long-term financial sustainability and broad accessibility, intending to partner with various companies to enhance supply chain sustainability and connect with isolated farming communities. Wefarm ceased operations in 2022.
Wefarm has raised $31.1M across 5 funding rounds.
Wefarm has raised $31.1M in total across 5 funding rounds.
WeFarm was a technology company that built a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform for smallholder farmers in developing regions, primarily Africa. It enabled farmers to ask and answer questions on agriculture via SMS without internet access, using AI and machine learning to match queries to relevant responders, delivering answers in minutes.[1][2][3][5] Serving over 1.4 million farmers mainly in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania—who produce much of the world's food but lack connectivity—WeFarm solved critical information gaps on crop diseases, yields, markets, and weather, boosting productivity and sustainability.[2][4][5] The free service grew rapidly from its 2015 launch, expanding to an agribusiness marketplace for inputs like seeds and fertilizers, before shutting down in 2022 after raising over $10 million in funding.[3][4]
WeFarm originated as a 2010 project under the Cafédirect Producers Foundation (CPF), a British charity supporting smallholder tea, coffee, and cocoa farmers. Piloted in 2011-2012 with Nominet Trust funding in Peru, Kenya, and Tanzania, it evolved into a standalone social enterprise in 2015.[1][3] Founder and CEO Kenny Ewan, with seven years directing social projects for indigenous Latin American communities and five years managing African coffee/tea initiatives at Producers Direct, drew inspiration from peer models to create an SMS-based network.[2] Early traction came from Kenya's launch, scaling to Uganda by 2016 and over 1 million users, fueled by AI matching even on basic phones.[4]
WeFarm rode the agritech and offline AI wave, democratizing knowledge for 500 million smallholders producing 70-80% of global food amid connectivity deserts.[2][5] Timing aligned with rising mobile penetration in Africa and NLP advances supporting regional languages, enabling collective intelligence where traditional extension services failed.[5] Market forces like climate challenges, supply chain opacity, and food security demands favored it, influencing ecosystems by providing data insights to nonprofits/governments and inspiring SMS-AI hybrids for underserved sectors.[2][4] It highlighted tech's equity potential, though its 2022 closure underscores scaling challenges for social enterprises in volatile funding landscapes.[3]
WeFarm exemplified impactful agritech innovation but ceased operations in 2022, leaving a blueprint for AI-driven peer networks in low-connectivity zones.[3] Post-shutdown, trends like advanced NLP, satellite data integration, and blockchain for supply chains could revive similar models, potentially through acquirers or successors targeting Africa's 1 billion+ smallholders. Its legacy amplifies calls for inclusive tech, bridging information gaps to enhance global food resilience—echoing its founding mission to empower the farmers feeding the world.[1][2]
Wefarm has raised $31.1M across 5 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $50K Seed in December 2023.
Wefarm has raised $31.1M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Wefarm's investors include ACT Venture Partners, Melih Odemis, Octopus Ventures, 2xN, Addition, Brand Foundry Ventures, Felix Capital, Firstminute Capital, Founder Collective, Javelin Venture Partners, LocalGlobe, Hans Tung.
