Agriculture in SA is a massive industry, but change is slow and seasonal. Which makes building a tech startup in the space so much harder.
In this episode of How Would You Build It, we speak with Louis de Kock, founder of Nile.ag, a tech-driven marketplace revolutionising agriculture across Southern Africa.
This isn’t the first time someone’s tried to digitise agri supply chains — but Louis and his team have succeeded where others haven’t. Why? Timing, execution, and trust.
We talk about:
• Raising R200 million to scale a two-sided marketplace
• Why transparency and word of mouth drive growth in legacy industries
• Building what farmers actually want and need — not what looks good in a pitch deck
Listen now on your favourite platform.
Youtube
Spotify
Apple
Or skip to the highlights:
03:40 Why now is different for Agritech
06:18 Tech and the age dynamics of farmers
10:55 How Nile built their Tech team
12:26 Seasonality and trust
15:42 Managing early growth
19:13 More than tech to move the needle
21:59 Recipe for success
24:49 e-commerce vs Logistics company
25:38 What were investors looking for that landed funding
29:40 The data play opportunity
31:46 How funding builds trust
36:58 That validation moment
40:21 The hidden value Proposition
42:08 How transparency unlocks value
Until next week,
Bobby and Renier