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Key people at Voxtra.org.
Voxtra.org was founded in 2008 by Tellef Thorleifsson (Co-Founder).
Voxtra manages the Voxtra East Africa Agribusiness Fund, an investment vehicle established in 2011. This fund provides capital to agribusinesses across Eastern Africa. Its strategy supports enterprises that enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and their communities through sustainable agricultural development in the region.
The Voxtra East Africa Agribusiness Fund was created in 2011, stemming from an insight into the funding gap for critical agribusinesses in East Africa. While specific founders are not detailed, Voxtra's management, based in Oslo, Norway, strategically channels investment into the Eastern African market, addressing regional agricultural development challenges.
The fund’s investees are agribusinesses in Eastern Africa, with smallholder farmers as ultimate beneficiaries. Voxtra's long-term vision centers on fostering sustainable agricultural growth and economic development by alleviating capital scarcity. This ensures enhanced prosperity for agricultural communities throughout the region.
Voxtra is an impact investment firm, specifically the Voxtra East Africa Agribusiness Fund, based in Kenya, that targets capital-constrained agribusinesses pivotal to improving smallholder farmers' livelihoods.[1][2][4] Its mission blends profit with social impact by investing in companies whose growth directly enhances farmer incomes, focusing on sectors like agriculture, rural development, financial services, and private sector trade.[1][2] With a fund size of approximately USD 18 million (NOK 110 million as of its first closing), Voxtra provides equity, mezzanine, or quasi-equity investments ranging from USD 500,000 to USD 3,000,000, held for 3-7 years, while offering active operating support in management, sales, marketing, and governance via a Norad-funded technical assistance facility.[1][2] This positions Voxtra as a key player in East Africa's startup ecosystem, catalyzing sustainable agribusiness SMEs that integrate smallholders into value chains and drive food production.[1][3]
Voxtra traces its roots to the Voxtra Foundation, established in 2008 with a mission to empower disadvantaged people out of poverty through targeted initiatives.[5] The flagship Voxtra East Africa Agribusiness Fund achieved its first closing in November 2011, raising NOK 110 million from institutional investors like Norfund, Gjensidigestiftelsen, Grieg International, and Kavlifondet, alongside Scandinavian private individuals.[1] Key figures include Chairman Kim Wahl, who has highlighted investments like the one in Mountaingate Farm Limited (MFL) in Tanzania as exemplars of commercial success tied to social impact.[3] The firm's evolution has centered on East African agribusiness, leveraging experience with funders like the European Commission and Norad to refine its profit-with-impact model.[1][2]
Voxtra rides the wave of Africa's "green revolution," powering sustainable agribusiness SMEs to boost local food production, integrate smallholder farmers into value chains, and create jobs amid rising demand for climate-resilient agriculture.[1][3] Timing aligns with market forces like population growth, urbanization, and climate challenges in East Africa, where smallholders produce most food but face capital gaps; Voxtra's interventions, such as funding clean seed potatoes via MFL, address these by scaling high-value crops and downstream processing.[3] By prioritizing profit-linked impact, Voxtra influences the ecosystem as a bridge between Scandinavian capital and African enterprises, fostering an emerging class of scalable agribusinesses that enhance competitiveness and economic transformation.[1][3]
Voxtra is poised to expand its portfolio amid growing global interest in impact investing and East African agribusiness, potentially scaling via follow-on funds or larger deals in protein and seed systems.[1][3] Trends like sustainable farming tech, climate adaptation, and SME financing will shape its path, amplifying influence as institutional capital flows into Africa. Its model—profit fused with farmer uplift—could evolve to set benchmarks for blended finance, reinforcing Voxtra's role from poverty alleviation origins to agribusiness catalyst.[1][5]
Key people at Voxtra.org.
Voxtra.org was founded in 2008 by Tellef Thorleifsson (Co-Founder).
