Kenyan Victory Farms receives $5M for African Expansion Victory Farms, an aquaculture company that produces tilapia fish in Kenya, has received $5 million in new capital. Ed Brakeman, a senior managing director at Bain Capital, and Hans den Bieman, the founder and former CEO of Mowi, one of the world’s largest fish companies, spearheaded the investment. Following seven internal angel rounds from the same collection of equity–and debt investors (it received $40 million in debt last year), this is the startup’s first institutional investment. The money will be used to help the Kenyan business expand into Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Victory Farms was established in 2015 by Joseph Rehmann. Rehmann partnered with Steve Moran, a longtime business associate, to study Lake Victoria and conduct some feasibility studies on how they may utilize technology to impact the country’s cold chain sectors. They realized that this was a unique opportunity to rebuild the value chain of fish from the ground up. Victory Farms was started with an angel round. The company launched in mid-2016 to address the $1.5 Billion fish shortage. Victory Farm claims that technology can be used to increase the production of fish and lower costs for thousands of women who buy small quantities to market at local food markets. Rehmann says they run a tech-enabled platform and have grown 2x faster than any other African fish business. Victory Farm is the best-performing service provider in the world using data at half the price of the current global leader. The company sells to Africans on the mass market using a cutting-edge RTM cold chains that uses predictive data to deliver fish every day to market women across Kenya. There is less than 1% spoilage. According to Rehmann, the startup has over 54 retail outlets where over 15,000 market women go to buy fish, and they don’t need electricity or ice. Aquaculture is one of the world’s most rapidly expanding food production methods. Aquaculture refers to the cultivation of aquatic species, such as fish, crabs, or seaweeds. With stagnant returns from several capture fisheries and rising requirements for fish and fishery products, aquaculture’s contribution to global aquatic food production is expected to grow significantly, and there is also optimism that aquaculture will remain strong in its role in economic growth and poverty reduction in many African countries. Africa’s aquaculture industry has huge potential. The benefits of aquaculture have been shown to be a powerful stimulus for economic growth as well as community well-being. Technological advancement has allowed African aquaculture to grow steadily over the years. Victory Farm, a startup that uses this technology to simplify fish production, has discovered a way to do it. Victory Farms boasts one of the highest margin structures in the fishing sector because of its technology. Between 2017 and 2021, the company’s CAGR was 130 percent. This growth rate could be a sign of confidence. Rehmann believes Victory Farms is the best startup because it has both a manufacturing plant and a distribution network in Kenya.