SOUTH AFRICA – AgVentures, Africa’s leading and dedicated agrifood tech investor, has made an undisclosed amount of investment in Matrix Software, a specialist software provider to the meat industry in Southern Africa.
Matrix has more than 150 clients spanning from abattoirs, meat processors, wholesalers, and retailers.
In addition to setting base in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria and Seychelles, the company also operates in Australia.
AgVentures’ investment ideally positions Matrix to continue its rapid growth through the introduction of new functionalities to existing clients and expanding into adjacent market verticals (such as poultry, fisheries, and dairy).
The tech-company is also seeking to expand into the greater African market, specially in the East Africa region.
“We are excited to partner with AgVentures given their experience in supporting and scaling agrifood technology companies.
“Whilst we have big plans for Matrix, we remain committed to our single-minded focus on understanding and addressing the needs of our existing and future customers,” Deon Snyman, Matrix’s founder and CEO is upbeat about the investment.
Matrix, founded in 2005 by Deon Snyman at the age of 21, has grown steadily into its market leading position by providing clients with mission critical functionalities to enable the processing of perishable food products where precise stock control, yield management, traceability, productivity tracking and costing – with minimal production downtime – is critical to business success.
“Matrix provides an indispensable solution to their customers, and we are excited to expand Matrix’s offering on the continent to unleash the potential of Africa’s meat and food industry.”
Gerhard Visagie – CEO of AgVentures
Not only is Matrix’s software crucial to ensuring the safety of the food on the consumer’s plate but it also enables the optimisation of the value chain so that the consumer can safely enjoy their meat at the lowest possible price.
With the African population projected to increase from 1.3 billion to 2.5 billion over the next 30 years combined with rising incomes, meat consumption in Africa is expected to increase rapidly. Matrix’s robust, cost-effective software provides the ideal solution to the challenges faced by the African meat and food value chain.
Food safety and traceability is top of mind for the entire food industry and Matrix’s technology enables complete traceability of meat products from the abattoir to the retail shelf.
Not only does this provide consumer with peace of mind, but it also enables accountability and efficiency within the value chain.
“We are thrilled about investing in Deon and the Matrix team. Matrix provides an indispensable solution to their customers, and we are excited to expand Matrix’s offering on the continent to unleash the potential of Africa’s meat and food industry,” Gerhard Visagie, the CEO of AgVentures.
AgVentures, with the objective of unleashing Africa’s agrifood potential through technological innovation and entrepreneurship, partners with agrifood tech entrepreneurs and enable them to accelerate the growth and development impact of their businesses in Africa.
In February, the agrifood tech investor acquired a stake in Skudu, a South African online marketplace for agricultural inputs and produce.
The partnership is aimed to spear-head expansion of the e-commerce platform beyond its primary market in South Africa to the rest of the region.