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Acumen, a global impact investor, has announced an investment in Nigerian agribusiness Pullus Africa Solutions Limited. The investment backs the women-led company’s mission to build fairer, more reliable poultry markets for smallholder farmers across Nigeria.
The deal announced on 10 April 2026 will fund an expansion of Pullus’ aggregation and cold-chain infrastructure, enabling small-scale chicken farmers to sell chickens year-round at stable prices.
“Acumen’s investment accelerates our mission to make poultry farming more profitable and resilient for smallholder farmers. Together, we are building a scalable, market-driven solution that strengthens food security and livelihoods across Nigeria and Africa,” said Opeoluwa Fayomi, CEO and co-founder of Pullus.
Nigeria has a vast poultry sector, but for the smallholder farmers, it has been anything but rewarding. Most rely on informal middlemen who offer extremely low prices and routinely delay payments. Many farmers have restricted their production to the peak festive seasons like Ramadan and Christmas, leading to a volatile poultry supply and unpredictable incomes for farmers.
Founded by Opeoluwa Fayomi and Abisoye Odeyemi in 2022, Pullus is addressing this market dysfunction by aggregating chickens directly from smallholder farmers and supplying them to retailers, restaurants, hotels, and food chains across Nigeria. The startup bypasses middlemen and negotiates stable prices on behalf of smallholder farmers. It also offers training, extension services, and input financing to improve flock health and farm productivity.
The startup, built on lessons learned at the farm and Fayomi’s own poultry operation, has registered more than 6,000 smallholder farmers on its platforms, trained over 28,000 in poultry management and business practices, and sold approximately 246,000 birds in 2025. Its impact is measurable: among farmers receiving extension support, more than nine in ten report lower flock mortality rates. The company aims to sell more than 2 million birds by 2029.
Acumen’s investment, backed by the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE), will be deployed across two main areas. First, it will fund the acquisition of solar-powered cold rooms and refrigerated trucks, providing Pullus with the infrastructure needed to store poultry year-round and expand distribution across states. Second, the investment will also provide working capital to purchase chickens directly from farmers, while expanding the financing and expansion programs.
Feyisola Adekogbe, Investment Manager at Acumen West Africa, said, “Acumen’s investment is a catalytic step in advancing Pullus’ mission to make poultry farming more profitable and resilient for smallholder farmers in Nigeria.
“When we first met Opeoluwa, Pullus was still pre-revenue, but her clarity of vision and conviction stood out. The speed and discipline with which the company has scaled reinforces our belief that this is a durable, market-driven platform with the potential to strengthen food security while improving farmer livelihoods.”
