How Five35 Ventures made 3.5 times its investment on Complete Farmer

In the dim glow of a late‑afternoon market in Accra, a farmer named Kofi paused beside a row of fresh tomatoes, a stack of receipts in hand, and a phone buzzing with a notification from Complete Farmer. The screen lit up with a message that said, “Your order has been confirmed.” For Kofi, that small digital wink was a lifeline that had turned his modest plot into a steady stream of income. Four years earlier, he had signed up with the Ghanaian agritech platform that would later attract the attention of a pan‑African venture firm, and the next spring he would see his harvest sold to a supermarket chain at a premium price. The same platform would soon become the headline of a venture capital success story that would ripple across the continent.

When Five35 Ventures opened its first cheque in April 2022, it was not just investing capital; it was planting a flag in a market that had long been overlooked by the big four of Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. The fund’s focus on pre‑seed and seed rounds in tech‑enabled companies meant that Complete Farmer, a Ghanaian agritech that connects smallholder farmers to buyers, inputs, and financing, fit neatly into its portfolio. The investment, one of Five35’s earliest, was a modest sumjust enough to give the platform the runway it needed to scale its operations and refine its matching algorithm.

The decision to back a Ghanaian startup was guided by a gender lens that the fund’s founding partner, Hema Vallabh, describes as a way to uncover “overlooked” businesses. Vallabh, an engineer and founder of the women’s entrepreneurship platform WomHub, has long believed that the most resilient ventures are those that empower women and marginalized communities. In a continent where female founders often face higher scrutiny and fewer resources, this perspective gave Complete Farmer a competitive edge, both in terms of social impact and business viability.

Fast forward to March 2026, when Five35 sold its entire stake in Complete Farmer. The exit yielded a return of 3.5 times the original investment, translating into an internal rate of return of 38% over four years. The company’s valuation leapt from $6 million to $49 million, evidence of the rapid scaling of its platform and the growing appetite for agritech solutions across West Africa. For a fund that had only raised $1 million in its first roundmostly from first‑time investorsthis was a headline‑making performance that validated its investment thesis and its gender‑centric approach.

The sale was not merely a financial win; it was a strategic statement. Vallabh noted that the exit was partly a commercial call and partly a strategic one: a first‑time manager still raising money needed to demonstrate that it could return cash to its investors. By selling its best performer early, Five35 positioned itself as a credible player in a market where exits are rare, especially in agritech, where fragmented supply chains and heavy working capital needs often stifle growth.

Five35’s journey began in a climate of uncertainty. In 2022, the firm was raising a $30 million fund, but the capital winter forced a recalibration. Vallabh cut the target and secured her first $1 million through cheques starting at $35,000, largely from first‑time investors who were drawn by the fund’s mission and its focus on under‑served markets. The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund later joined as an anchor in late 2025, giving Five35 the confidence to close its fund in the next three to six months.

This trajectory illustrates the resilience required to launch a venture fund in Africa. The ability to pivot, to engage a diverse investor base, and to maintain a clear focus on impact are the pillars that have allowed Five35 to navigate a challenging fundraising landscape.

Behind every headline and every figure lies the lived experience of farmers like Kofi. The success of Complete Farmer is not just measured in dollars but in the steady income it provides to hundreds of smallholders across Ghana. The platform’s ability to connect farmers to buyers, inputs, and financing reduces the risk of price volatility and ensures that produce reaches markets efficiently. For many of these farmers, the platform has become a lifeline, turning a once‑uncertain livelihood into a predictable source of income.

The gender lens that guided Five35’s investment also plays out on the ground. By supporting a company that empowers women farmers, the fund has helped to close gender gaps in agricultural access and income. This aligns with broader development goals and underscores the importance of inclusive growth in Africa’s agritech ecosystem.

As Five35 prepares to close its fund, it plans to write bigger cheques, invest more in secondary markets, and enter a harvest period focused on exits. The success story of Complete Farmer provides a blueprint for how a focused, gender‑centric approach can unlock value in markets that have traditionally been neglected. For other venture firms, the lesson is clear: identify overlooked opportunities, empower marginalized founders, and be prepared to exit early when the time is right.

The next chapter for Five35 will see it leveraging its anchor from the Mastercard Foundation to scale its impact further. For farmers across West Africa, the promise is that more platforms like Complete Farmer will emerge, offering reliable access to markets and financing. And for investors, the story of Five35’s 3.5‑fold return will serve as a reminder that the most rewarding exits often come from the places where the most pressing needs are still unmet.