Kenya’s Pyramidia Ventures Raises $1.5M to Build Climate-Smart Agritech Startups

Pyramidia Ventures, a Nairobi-based venture studio, has secured $1.5 million in fresh funding to accelerate the development of climate-focused agritech startups across Africa. The investment, led by Dutch impact investor Triple Jump through the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), combines $1.3 million in capital with an additional $200,000 in technical assistance to strengthen the growth of early-stage ventures.

Founded in 2021 by Ruth Bertens (former McKinsey consultant) and Joseph Rehmann (founder of Victory Farms), Pyramidia Ventures takes a different approach from traditional venture capital. Rather than waiting for startups to pitch, the studio ideates, tests, and incubates business models in-house, then recruits co-founders to scale the most promising ones.

Scaling Climate-Resilient Agriculture

The funding will allow Pyramidia to launch at least two new ventures per year, with a focus on resilient and low-carbon food systems. Their portfolio already includes companies like:

• Stable Foods – offering irrigation-as-a-service, bundled farm inputs, training in regenerative practices, and offtake contracts for smallholder farmers.

• Womega – working in aquaculture to provide sustainable fish farming solutions.

• Afriprotein – focused on alternative protein sources to meet Africa’s rising demand for nutrition.

Each of these ventures aims to address structural gaps in Africa’s agricultural sector, from unreliable irrigation to protein insecurity, while keeping climate resilience at the core.

Why This Matters

Africa’s agricultural sector is the backbone of its economy, yet it is one of the most vulnerable to climate shocks. Droughts, erratic rainfall, and soil degradation consistently undermine productivity for smallholder farmers, who make up over 60% of the continent’s workforce.

By embedding regenerative practices and climate adaptation into its business models, Pyramidia Ventures is positioning itself at the intersection of food security, climate action, and innovation. The studio model also spreads risk, as it develops multiple startups in parallel instead of betting on one.

The Bigger Picture

The infusion of both capital and technical support reflects a broader trend in impact investing: moving beyond check-writing to provide the hands-on support that African startups need to reach scale. With this approach, Pyramidia is betting that sustainable agriculture is not only good for farmers and the planet but can also generate attractive long-term returns.

If successful, this model could influence how venture studios across Africa think about building climate-smart businesses from the ground up. The real test, however, will be whether Pyramidia’s ventures can achieve both profitability and measurable impact on farmer livelihoods and environmental resilience.