Five35 Ventures, a pan-African venture capital firm, sold its entire stake in Complete Farmer in March 2026. According to TechCabal, the transaction returned 3.5 times the firm’s initial investment, generating an internal rate of return of 38% over a four-year period. During this timeframe, Complete Farmer’s valuation rose from $6 million to $49 million. The Ghanaian agritech company operates a platform that connects smallholder farmers with buyers, agricultural inputs, and financing services.
The exit was driven by both commercial and strategic considerations. Hema Vallabh, Five35’s founding partner, explained that the company’s next funding round reached a valuation beyond the fund’s typical range, making further investment less impactful. As a first-time manager still raising capital, Five35 needed to demonstrate its ability to deliver realized returns to limited partners. The fund’s target for invested capital is at least three times the money deployed, a threshold this specific exit exceeded.
TechCabal reports that Five35 focuses on pre-seed and seed investments in tech-enabled companies, with a specific emphasis on markets beyond Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. The fund utilizes a gender lens that extends beyond female founders to include companies with intentional female workforces or customer bases. Complete Farmer fit this thesis because approximately 55% to 60% of its customers were women, and women comprised about 80% of its post-harvest workforce. Vallabh noted that the platform’s model provided farmers with market access before planting, thereby stabilizing income and reducing waste.
The fund’s fundraising journey has been marked by adaptation to market conditions. Vallabh stated that Five35 initially targeted a $30 million fund in 2022 but reduced its target as the capital winter hit. The firm raised its first $1 million through small cheques, primarily from first-time investors, to build a track record. The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund joined as an anchor investor in late 2025, and the fund expects to close its current round within the next three to six months. Vallabh indicated that the fund will continue to invest aggressively over the next 18 months before focusing more heavily on exits.