Safaricom's Spark Venture Fund has announced that it will be investing in a sixth start-up, iProcure, a supply chain platform in Kenya.

As reported by CIO East Africa, iProcure offers farmers discounts of between 10 and 20% every time they purchase farming products. The online supply chain platform links farmers and farmer cooperatives to manufacturers of agricultural inputs.

"We started the Spark Fund with the aim of supporting emerging startups that use technology to transform lives. As it joins the outstanding crop of Spark Fund investees, iProcure will be instrumental in harnessing the power of technology to improve Kenya's agri-business processes," says Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom.

To access iProcure, farmers dial *283# and then select which input they would like to purchase. The farmer then receives a voucher which allows them to claim the inputs from an iProcure farm depot or collection point. The company currently covers several counties across Kenya, mainly in Central and Rift Valley - but has plans to scale to Western and Eastern Kenya this year.

Nicole Galletta, Chief Operations Officer, iProcure says, "At iProcure we are all about optimising rural supply chains. We build both the supply chain technology in addition to 'on-the-ground' infrastructure to ensure small holder farming communities get the inputs they require on terms that are convenient and affordable."