South African agritech startup SwiftVEE has raised $10.1 million (R173 million) in a Series A round to extend its operations into financial services while continuing to scale its core livestock marketplace. The round was led by African venture capital firm HAVAÍC and private equity investor Exeo Capital, with participation from Iain Williamson, former CEO of Old Mutual. Existing investors including fund managers Mike Kirsten and Carlo Dickson, as well as private investment vehicle Zire Africa, also participated in the round.
Founded in 2019 by Russel Luck, SwiftVEE’s digital platform is intended to bring greater transparency and accessibility to the livestock value chain. The system allows farmers and agents to list cattle, sheep, goats and game for auction, with events streamed online to reach participants who are not physically present.
SwiftVEE’s livestock trading technology connects fragmented value chains, enabling users to buy online and access complementary services like digital finance, insurance and data solutions.Our success connecting the livestock trading value chain empowered us to identify other industries where our technology would be equally effective.
The funding arrives as vertical marketplaces across Africa continue to adopt embedded finance to improve margins and strengthen customer retention. Having begun with the digitisation of livestock auctions, SwiftVEE plans to use the new capital to expand into fintech, insurance and data products, which will be integrated into its trading platform.
According to the company, the platform facilitates more than $100 million (R1.8 billion) in gross merchandise value annually across several hundred auctions. SwiftVEE’s presence now extends beyond South Africa into Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, with buyer syndicates also active in the United States, Europe and the United Arab Emirates.
Backers Signal Agri-Finance Shift
The composition of SwiftVEE’s backers points to an emphasis on expanding both its operational footprint and its financial services offering. HAVAÍC brings experience supporting African tech companies with international growth trajectories, while Exeo Capital contributes sector expertise from its longstanding involvement in food and agribusiness across the continent.
Also joining the round is former Old Mutual CEO Iain Williamson, whose background in insurance and risk management aligns with SwiftVEE’s moves toward insurtech and embedded finance. His participation underscores the growing convergence of agriculture, data and financial services in emerging markets.
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SwiftVEE’s main opportunity is linked to the data and financial infrastructure it has developed, which could enable the company to offer credit and insurance products to farmers who have historically been underserved by formal banking due to the difficulty of assessing agricultural risk. Earlier this year, the company moved in this direction through a fintech collaboration with Nedbank, one of South Africa’s major financial institutions.
Shareholder Mike Kirsten said the involvement of financial sector leaders reflects confidence in the company’s approach to linking agritech and fintech. SwiftVEE, which began as a livestock auction platform, is increasingly positioning itself as a broader service provider. The company now operates two complementary white-label solutions, Auctionapp.IO, a platform used for non-agricultural asset auctions, and PrysWys, an online marketplace for agricultural inputs.
This diversification can reduce the company’s exposure to the cyclical nature of livestock markets and creates additional points of entry for potential financial products. The development also aligns with a wider shift in African technology markets from providing access, primarily connecting buyers and sellers to capturing value through facilitating and financing trade. With $10.1 million in new funding and a set of prominent backers, SwiftVEE can work to modernise agricultural commerce on the continent.
SwiftVEE Embedding Finance in Agritech
SwiftVEE’s Series A round reflects a wider shift in African agritech, where marketplaces are moving beyond basic transaction facilitation toward financial services that address long-standing gaps in agricultural credit and insurance. By building on its livestock auction data and expanding into fintech products, the company is positioning itself within a segment that has historically struggled with risk assessment and formal lending access.
The participation of investors with experience in agribusiness, technology and insurance indicates confidence in this integrated approach. SwiftVEE’s diversification into related digital platforms also reduces exposure to livestock cycles while broadening potential revenue streams. The funding signals growing investor interest in models that link agricultural trade, data and finance across the continent.