Online livestock trading platform SwiftVEE is planning to expand after concluding a Series A funding round from several funders.
According to a statement, the new funding has helped the platform raise about R173 million in equity and funding instruments.
Backers include Old Mutual’s former CEO Iain Williamson, African venture capital firm HAVAÍC, and private equity firm Exeo Capital.
They join SwiftVEE’s current shareholders – fund managers Mike Kirsten and Carlo Dickson, as well as private investment vehicle Zire Africa.
SwiftVEE says the funds will be used to enter new markets and layer additional fintech, insurance tech and data solutions across its platforms.
The South African agritech platform streamlines livestock trading by connecting farmers, feedlots, buyers and sellers through digital tools.
The trading platform allows farmers and livestock agents to list cattle, sheep, goats and other animals for sale.
SwiftVEE co-founder and CEO Russel Luck comments: “SwiftVEE’s livestock trading technology connects fragmented value chains, enabling users to buy online and access complementary services like digital finance, insurance and data solutions. Our success connecting the livestock trading value chain empowered us to identify other industries where our technology would be equally effective in solving the same problem.”
After launching its online livestock auction trading platform in 2019, the company now trades in excess of $100 million in livestock and game via several hundred auctions hosted on its platforms each year, it says.
SwiftVEE’s operations extend from South Africa to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The company also facilitates trade across the continent, including buyer syndicates in North America, Europe, UAE, Asia and Australia.
SwiftVEE has two additional platforms complementary to its main agritech website – Auctionapp.IO, a white label auction platform for non-agricultural assets, and PrysWys, an online agricultural inputs marketplace.
To enhance the SwiftVEE and PrysWys platforms, a fintech collaboration with Nedbank was announced earlier this year.
“We’re elated to have some of Africa’s financial leaders endorse SwiftVEE through investment and collaboration, demonstrating confidence in their future success,” says Kirsten.
“We look forward to the depth of expertise and experience our new partners will add to SwiftVEE’s arsenal.”
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