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Vitara Agritech (formerly Sommalife), a Ghanaian B-Corp-certified AgTech company building more traceable and sustainable shea value chains, has secured $2 million (€1.8 million) in equity investment.
The investment was made by AgriFI, the European Union-funded agriculture impact investment facility, alongside additional investment from Acumen and a network of angel investors. With this capital, the company will support traceable sourcing, women producers and the protection of shea landscapes in northern Ghana.
Mawuse Gyisun, COO and co-founder of Vitara Agritech, said, “With the support of AgriFI, Acumen, and SIG our angel investors, Vitara can expand its work with women producers, strengthen the reach of our solutions and build a more transparent and sustainable shea supply chain.”
Founded in 2020, Vitara Agritech is a Ghanaian company developing traceable, transparent and sustainable shea supply chains. Formerly known as Sommalife, Vitara says it works with smallholder producers—predominantly women—in northern Ghana, connecting them to international markets through structured sourcing, farmer services, and its proprietary digital platform, TreeSyt.
The company states that TreeSyt supports farmer profiling, sourcing, training and tree monitoring, helping to bring greater traceability to a value chain that has traditionally relied on informal intermediaries.
It also highlighted that nearly 91% of the farmers in its network are women. During the latest shea season, the company reported that it actively worked with approximately 47,000 women farmers in Ghana, for whom shea is an important source of household income.
Ghana-sourced shea is used primarily in cocoa butter equivalents for chocolate and confectionery products. Vitara’s growth is closely connected to European markets. Its notable clients include European companies specialised in plant-based oils and fats.
Rodrigo Madrazo, CEO of EDFI Management Company, said, “Vitara combines a commercially strong model with clear benefits for smallholder producers, particularly women, and for the landscapes on which the shea sector depends. We are pleased that AgriFI’s first direct equity investment in Ghana will support a Ghanaian company that is creating a more transparent, resilient and inclusive shea value chain.”
EDFI Management Company (EDFI MC) is a multilaterally owned impact asset manager that delivers innovative development finance solutions, enabling European Development Financial Institutions, development banks, and private sector investors to scale and expand the impact of their work.
It manages AgriFI, the EU Agriculture Financing Initiative, which is an impact investment facility funded by the European Union. AgriFI’s mandate is to unlock, accelerate, and leverage sustainable investments in medium, small, and micro agri-enterprises (MSMEs) operating in developing countries, with a specific focus on smallholders’ inclusiveness.
Ilona Gruenewald, programme manager for agriculture and energy, European Union Delegation to Ghana, said, “The European Union is pleased to support this investment through the AgriFI Ghana Country Window. Vitara’s model demonstrates how investment in innovative Ghanaian businesses can strengthen agricultural value chains, create economic opportunities for women and support the protection, transparent and sustainable use of vital natural resources. While connecting smallholder producers to international markets, the company contributes to more inclusive and resilient rural development in northern Ghana.”
The AgriFI Ghana Country Window is a €11.14 million (€10 million) country window dedicated to sustainably increasing production and incomes of smallholder farmers in Ghana by investing in private sector enterprises, financial institutions and/or funds focusing on farmers’ livelihood improvement.
