Victory Group, a Kenyan aquaculture startup that produces and distributes Nile tilapia fish, has secured a $15 million follow-on investment from specialist agriculture investor AgDevCo.
The financing will fund Victory Group’s next expansion phase, including several new farming sites in Kenya and Rwanda. AgDevCo’s mezzanine loan will enable the company to meet increasing regional demand and enhance the supply reliability for market traders.
Joseph Rehmann, founder and CEO of Victory Group, said, “Our aim is to build a leading aquaculture business that supplies nutritious protein at scale, while creating opportunities for the traders and communities that depend on our value chain. AgDevCo’s investment will help us expand production and strengthen distribution as demand for affordable, high-quality fish continues to grow across East Africa.”
Founded in 2015 by Rehmann and Steve Moran, Victory Group is on a mission to build a commercial tilapia farm that can feed 2 billion Africans with affordable, accessible and healthy protein over the next two decades.
The company farms tilapia on Lake Victoria in Kenya and Lake Kivu in Rwanda. The company sells fresh fish to thousands of mama samakis (female market traders), via more than one hundred sales outlets. The company expects to produce 30,000 tons of fish in 2026, helping broaden access to affordable and sustainable protein across the region.
According to the company, it disrupts the century-old aquaculture industry through embedding data-driven thinking throughout its value chain. It operates a fully-integrated, end-to-end platform across production, processing, distribution and sales, directly serving tens of thousands of Kenyan mass market customers. It also claims to operate the most efficient cold chain system on the African continent, with proprietary access to mass market towns. In 2023, the company raised $35 million in a Series B funding round led by Creadev.
Founded in 2009, AgDevCo is a specialist impact investor operating exclusively in the agriculture sector in Africa. Its mission is to build successful African agribusinesses through long-term investment and support to deliver positive impact at scale. It provides patient capital to businesses that create jobs, strengthen food systems and support economic growth.
John Jakobsson, Investment Director at AgDevCo, said, “Our follow-on investment reflects our confidence in Victory Group’s management team and growth potential. Since our initial investment of $4 million in 2021, the company has significantly increased production while improving operational efficiency. We are delighted to put our capital to work to drive more impact in the region.”
AgDevCo has $340 million in assets under management and has made more than 88 investments to date, including 51 exits.
