H2O Venture Partners

Smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa, and the poverty that goes with it, is the problem this firm sets out to solve by building companies. H2O Venture Partners, also called H2O Impact Ventures, says its major focus is poverty and that smallholder agriculture is the key to inclusive economic development in the region.

Building enterprises from scratch

The firm argues that major gaps persist in agricultural value chains, from making and supplying inputs through to post-harvest handling and processing, where functioning businesses should exist but do not. Much effort goes into incubating or investing in enterprises that already exist, but often there is nothing to promote, so new ones must be created from the ground up. The firm says it is unique in doing this systematically and at scale, through a gated process that carries an idea from spotting a market opening to a business trading at scale, with each stage reviewed before the next begins. The firm sets this against efforts that only support businesses that already exist. It believes social enterprises can use commercial discipline to deliver profitable, long-term impact, and that these upstream and downstream businesses are highly scalable.

Examples of its companies

The site lists a seed multiplication business in Rwanda that supplies maize seed to farmers, plant health, honey, fresh produce and microbial companies, and a 3D imaging business. One of its programmes, a first SEED programme, was run in partnership with the UK Department for International Development and the University of Edinburgh.

Wider aims

Beyond farming, the firm explains its wider ambitions in health and the environment. It says it works with innovative technologies and business processes to create better health, and implements new solutions to environmental challenges in the developing world. Its founders are scientists whose earlier careers include healthcare consulting and a biotechnology spin-out developing pesticide-free insect control.

H2O Venture Partners, also referred to as H2O Impact Ventures, builds new enterprises to fill gaps in smallholder agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa. Its main aim is reducing poverty.

What H2O Venture Partners offers

• New enterprise creation: starts businesses from scratch, systematically and at scale.
• Input supply: enterprises that make and supply what farmers need to grow.
• Post-harvest handling: businesses that handle and add value to crops after harvest.
• Seed multiplication: for example, Rumbuka Seeds in Rwanda.

Who it serves

The firm serves smallholder farmers, working upstream and downstream of the farm. It describes social enterprises as a way to use commercial discipline for lasting impact.

Key facts

• Region: sub-Saharan Africa, with activity in Rwanda
• Ventures: Sarura, Farm Fresh, Ingabo, Rumbuka, Milele, Sigasira and Citizen Bird
• Programme partners: UK DfID and the University of Edinburgh on its first SEED Programme