The investment, anchored in Vitara’s pre-Series A funding round, is meant to support the company’s expansion in linking rural producers directly with international buyers and building more inclusive, transparent supply chains. 

Founded to help farmers escape years of low prices and unreliable market access, Vitara buys shea nuts and soybeans from smallholders and connects them with global food, cosmetics, and specialty ingredient buyers.

This model seeks to eliminate exploitative middlemen and the unpredictable pricing that has long trapped rural households in cycles of unstable income. 

To tackle these challenges, Vitara uses its proprietary digital platform called TreeSyt, designed to record and follow crops from the farm all the way to the final buyer.

This level of traceability addresses growing demand from global purchasers for ethically and sustainably sourced products.

By giving buyers verified supply chain data, the system helps farmers capture premium prices for their crops while meeting international sourcing expectations. 

“Sommalife (Vitara) is transforming agriculture in Ghana by equipping smallholder farmers, especially women, with the tools and opportunities they need to thrive,” said Feyisola Adekogbe, Investment Manager at Acumen.

She explained that beyond technology, the investment will deepen community training efforts and expand programs that reinforce climate resilience.  

Vitara’s approach goes beyond market linkages as its field teams provide education in sustainable farming techniques, financial literacy, and climate-smart practices, and it runs conservation efforts that have already protected thousands of shea parkland acres and supported the planting of tens of thousands of seedlings.  

The new funding is expected to help Vitara scale its technology, increase processing capacity for shea butter, and extend its reach across more farming regions.

The company, which already has hundreds of thousands of farmers registered on TreeSyt and tens of thousands actively participating in sourcing programs, has set a target of benefiting up to one million farmers by 2030.