• Funding to legally registered SME, cooperatives or farmers’ organizations

• Business must be in operation at least for 1 year

Grow a portfolio of strategically-aligned tech-enabled start-ups for deeper commercial partnership and/or acquisition by Safaricom whilst Transforming Lives.
he fund will be made available to tech-enabled start-ups as an enabler in the verticals; Agriculture; Education; Healthcare;

• Kenyan presence
• A Core diverse skilled team
• Refined Working mobile based product/service
• Commercially viable business model
• Active user base
• Generating revenues
• Partnership with Safaricom signed or being discussed
• Raising equity or quasi equity

Application process:

The Fund Manager is S&B Ventures, based in Kenya, who will source deals, perform due diligence and recommend the investments.

SME Bizna loan is designed with the needs of small business people in mind to supply them with a short-term financing facility for working capital needs

• Duly constructed business financial statements for at least 12 months
• Certified 12 month bank statements
• Business Licences
• Minimum of 3 years trading history within local markets to support loan amounts

Term loans available including Property Finance, Project Finance and Bridging Finance
Customisation of term loan facility to suit your financing needs.

• One time Processing fee of 1%.
• No appraisal fee.
• Maximum loan tenure 4 years.
• No early repayment penalties.
• Flexible repayment instalments which may include reducing balance repayment, equal monthly instalment repayment and lump sum repayment.

The cherry advance levy fund will finance farmers’ working capital as they wait for their earnings from coffee marketers. 

• Economic Drivers/Viability: Business model fit and growth prospect (i.e. profit, turnover, cash flow, efficiency and market potential) and the business capacity (i.e. governance, financial and risk management)
• Social impact: Inclusion of smallholder farmers, pastoralists, job creation, influence on food security and improved nutrition, gender and youth inclusion, and inclusion of arid areas.
• Environmental impact: Inclusion of climate smart approaches at farm and enterprise level
• Additionality and level of leverage.
• A minimum 50% match fund required –own sources or external equity investment

• GBF prefers “growth stage” companies with a strong track record.
• GBF seeks companies that can protect their market position through high barriers to entry, first-mover advantage, high-quality differentiated products, etc.
• Competent Management Team

• Evidence for previous years’ bonus pay out.

Finances land preparation, purchase of farm inputs and implements, livestock feeds, labour finances, business stock, harvest and other agricultural activities. It offers easy and convenient repayment through the monthly pay outs.

• Operations in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Focus on Impact and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Early stage companies with proof of concept
• Scalability and profitability potential
• Environmental and social impact

• Entrepreneur Profile: The entrepreneur should have significant own investment in the business, have the ability to manage a business – from operations, sales, financial management, administration, and leadership. They must be willing to work with GroFin as a value adding financier and share management information regularly. They must have growth ambition and demonstrate integrity as well as professionalism in their dealings.
• Collateral requirements: Though GroFin has no minimum requirement, they expect entrepreneurs to (partly) secure the loan if collateral is available. Quality and value of collateral does play an important part in the overall risk assessment. Personal guarantees of the entrepreneur(s) is required.
• Social Impact: The business must be able to have a measurable impact in terms of the number of jobs supported and sustained, female ownership, female employment and semi-/unskilled labour. SMEs that provide indirect job opportunities (e.g. training, skills development) and/or environmental services (water, waste, energy, ecotourism) are also attractive to GroFin.
• Business support: GroFin delivers business support to clients prior to the investment and during the tenor of the loan – focusing on improving business viability, sustainability and growth through identifying material business risks/opportunities across a range of generic areas as identified during the screening/due diligence stage. For this reason, entrepreneurs need to be receptive to receiving advice and implementing recommendations, normally around improving formalisation of their business.

• Due diligence and IP ownership

• Attributable benefit to smallholder farmers