EA Foods, the Dar es Salaam-based agritech and food distribution company led by Tanzanian entrepreneur Elia Timotheo, has raised $40 million to deepen its food supply chain infrastructure and drive expansion across East Africa. The funding will be used to scale the physical and digital infrastructure, spanning sourcing, transportation, storage and distribution.

$26 million equity round

The financing includes a $26 million Series B equity round led by the Private Infrastructure Development Group, through its InfraCo investment arm, alongside Oikocredit and FMO. Existing investors ARAF, Goodwell, Africa Eats and FINCA also reinvested, while the wider capital raise includes debt financing from the Schmidt Family Foundation.

Timotheo, EA Foods’ founder and chief executive officer, said food losses are driven less by production than by weaknesses in the infrastructure linking farmers with consumers. The company has spent the past three years building a sourcing network, fleet, storage capacity and technology platform designed to connect smallholder farms with urban markets.

Building from farm to shelf

“A third of what our farmers grow never reaches anyone’s table,” Timotheo said. “That is not a farming problem: It is an infrastructure problem, and it is solvable.” He said the new investment would allow EA Foods to improve and expand the physical and digital systems supporting its food distribution network.

Claire Jarratt, head of investment management for InfraCo, said EA Foods fits PIDG’s mandate of supporting inclusive and climate-resilient growth. She said strengthening the company’s presence in Tanzania and expanding its data-driven model into Kenya could attract additional financing to the sector and support regional food security.

28,000 farmers in network

EA Foods sources produce directly from more than 28,000 registered smallholder farmers, then aggregates, grades, stores and processes the produce before distributing it to more than 10,000 urban retailers. The company also sells food products under brands including Onja and Golden Banana, extending its reach across the value chain.

Founded in 2013, EA Foods has grown under Timotheo from a startup into a data-driven food distribution business focused on addressing inefficiencies between farmers and urban consumers. Its model combines technology with physical infrastructure to improve market access for farmers while making food distribution more efficient in African cities.

Push into East Africa

Samuel Kibiri, senior equity officer at Oikocredit, said investment in infrastructure connecting farmers with markets is critical to building climate-resilient food systems. He said EA Foods’ aggregation, storage, processing and distribution platform can reduce food losses, strengthen food security and improve resilience and incomes for smallholder farmers.

The latest funding gives EA Foods additional capital to deepen its Tanzanian operations while expanding into Kenya. With a growing farmer and retailer network, the company is positioning its integrated supply chain model as a platform for expanding food distribution, reducing losses and improving connections between producers and consumers across East Africa.