About

InspiraFarms Cooling designs, develops, installs, services and finances modular and energy-efficient cold rooms and pack-houses for fresh fruit, vegetable, flower and animal protein supply chains in Africa. The company was founded in 2012 with the goal of providing African agribusinesses with the tools, technology and expertise to significantly reduce food losses and energy costs, and to access higher-value markets. For the past 12 years, the company has installed cold rooms, packhouses, precooling solutions, slaughterhouses and freezers for agribusinesses, exporters, third-party logistics firms and food distributors of all sizes across 16 countries.

Crops that are highly perishable, but grown for distant high-value markets, depend on this critical post-harvest cooling process since each hour that passes between harvest and chilling can reduce shelf life by more than a day. Too often, this results in food waste, with a staggering 30-50% of crops produced on the continent ending up in landfill.

InspiraFarms Cooling set out to significantly reduce food waste in Africa. Each of the company’s facilities is designed to fit its customers’ product requirements and power needs, including three-phase and solar hybrid cold rooms, built with dry construction steel structures and high-density polyurethane sandwich panels. Today, clients in over 16 countries are saving on their electricity bills and preserving the quality of their produce for higher revenues while boosting livelihoods and creating more jobs within the cold chain, many of which are filled by women from surrounding communities.

Our support 

Limited financing is often a critical barrier to the adoption of an energy-efficient cold chain. Launching InspiraFarms’ lease-to-own model has required significant financing efforts as well. Even when lease payments are linked to offtake to match farmers’ cash flows, the decision to invest in such cooling facilities is not easy to make. InspiraFarms therefore sought the GET.invest Finance Catalyst’s strategic advisory services in the early stages of making its case, both to investors and clients. The advisors assisted the company’s management with the further development of its lease-to-own financing and preparation for discussions with investors.

InspiraFarms has demonstrated its commitment to the modern agricultural cold chain throughout some difficult years, facing significant challenges including those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, after the dust settled, GET.invest supported the company in presenting a successful proposal for much-needed bridge funding to the impact investors on the company’s board – giving the company a chance to accelerate its fundraising efforts. Additionally, GET.invest provided financial structuring, fundraising support and transaction advisory for a series of introductions to both equity and debt providers.

The outcome

As a result of the fundraising efforts from the company and advisors, the infrastructure investor InfraCo Africa led a €5 million deal to support the roll-out of the lease-to-own model. The financing raised will allow InspiraFarms Cooling to pilot the model and get more cooling assets deployed across target countries in East Africa as well as Ghana and Zimbabwe.

By making efficient cooling accessible to agribusinesses across Africa, InspiraFarms Cooling supports good post-harvest management. Well placed cold rooms help to build the cold chain, generating high-quality rural jobs, mostly for women, and supporting better food security. Most importantly for the company’s clients, they can continue to record success stories such as a reduction in power bills by 30%, a 7 times shorter cooling duration, and a 50% reduction in customer complaints and claims. Among others, these benefits showcase the impact of innovative cooling solutions for overall efficiency, satisfaction and cost-effectiveness.

Disclaimer: This story was last updated in July 2024.