Shariah compliant agricultural fintech start-up WeGro Technologies has partnered with United Commercial Bank (UCB) to increase Bangladesh-based farmers’ access to financing.
Through this partnership, UCB will facilitate agricultural financing to farmers within WeGro’s 14 operational zones nationwide.
“This will promote financial inclusion for farmers, enabling them to buy agri inputs and other commodities necessary for their yield,” Md Mahmudur Rahman, WeGro’s co-founder, said in an official social media post. “We hope to leverage this partnership to create innovative products and impact the lives of more farmers across the nation.”
The tech platform, established in April 2021, connects underemployed farmers and under-utilized land to financiers using a Mudarabah-structured investment concept to promote food security and sustainable income.
Essentially operating a P2P/crowdfunding model, WeGro facilitates Halal investments from individual investors which would be channeled toward various agricultural projects including poultry, cattle, fisheries and vegetables.
WeGro recently told Islamic Sustainable Finance and Investment, IFN Fintech’s sister publication, that it hopes to disburse US$120 million in yearly financing by 2024, and benefit at least 3,000 farmers by March 2023.
The start-up last month secured a US$100,000 grant from Biniyog Briddhi program’s Impact Ready Matching Fund scheme. It was also awarded BDT100,000 (US$960.92) in addition to US$80,000 in Huawei Cloud Credit after emerging as second runner-up in the Huawei ICT Incubator Startup Competition.