KENYA – Twiga Foods has successfully obtained an undisclosed amount of funds from its investors, including Creadev and Juven to support its growth plans.
Hein Pretorius, Twiga’s Chairman said the move is aimed at repositioning and fine-tuning operating processes as well as enabling further resource mobilization to ensure the long-term resilience of the business.
“The company has undertaken several initiatives in the past year, enabled by significant investment in technology and automation,” said Pretorius.
According to him, Twiga will continue to progress its mission to digitize the informal retail economy and revolutionize food supply chains in Africa.
“We thank our investors, employees, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders for their continued support during this transformative period,” he added.
Twiga Foods’ CEO and Co-Founder Peter Njonjo added that the funding is the culmination of a transformation journey that will enhance its cost efficiency and improve service delivery to customers.
Twiga Foods has been facing financial challenges as it strives to maintain its operations amidst a severe cash shortage.
This positive development, for instance, comes months after the company reportedly faced liquidation following a notice from Incentro Africa Limited, which was seeking to recover nearly USD 261,879 (KES 39 million) in unpaid debts.
Incentro Africa filed insolvency against the company for its failure to remit the charged amount for the provision of Google Cloud Services and Partner Service Funds under its Google Partners Funding Programme.
“Further take notice that failure to pay the aforesaid amount shall result in Incentro Africa Limited fling for liquidation order against you,” read the notice.
Twiga Foods, however, moved to court under a certificate of urgency to seek an injunction against liquidation.
The Agritech firm successfully obtained a court order blocking the liquidation notice issued by Incentro Africa Limited.
According to them, the liquidation petition was motivated by an ulterior motive. It was filed in retaliation after Twiga reached out directly to Google Ireland, the ultimate provider of cloud services, to protest the way the billing account was entered, structured, and managed.
The head of legal at the agri-tech firm, Daniel Ngugi, stated that the demand was flawed as it had been presented prematurely.
“In the event that Incentro Africa is permitted to file and publish a liquidation petition, it will result in significant harm to the company. This is due to the false impression it will create among employees, business partners, bankers, creditors, partners, and the Kenya Revenue Authority that the company is insolvent,” he said.
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