VC Win: Five35 Ventures Boasts 3.5x Return on First Exit!

Five35 Ventures, an Africa-focused venture firm, has successfully completed its first portfolio exit, generating a significant 3.5x multiple on its investment in the Ghanaian agritech company, Complete Farmer. The firm, which initially invested in Complete Farmer in April 2022, exited in March 2026, realizing an internal rate of return (IRR) of 38% over approximately four years. During this investment period, Complete Farmer's valuation saw a remarkable increase, soaring from $6 million to $49 million.

Complete Farmer operates a crucial platform that connects farmers directly with buyers, while simultaneously providing essential access to agricultural inputs and technical support. Its mission is to empower farmers with market access and contracted demand, thereby assisting buyers in establishing efficient agricultural supply chains. Five35 Ventures backed the company as part of its overarching strategy to invest in technology businesses capable of delivering robust financial returns alongside expanding economic participation across Africa.

A core aspect of Five35 Ventures' strategy is the application of a gender lens to its investments. This involves meticulously assessing women's participation within companies as founders, employees, suppliers, customers, and members of their wider value chains. When Five35 invested in Complete Farmer, women constituted 55% of its farmer network, 80% of its post-harvest workforce, and 43% of its core team. By the time of the exit, women held 50% of the company's board seats. Furthermore, Complete Farmer significantly expanded its impact, having served 12,628 business customers and created 77 direct jobs by the time of Five35's exit. The company also enhanced farmer training and market access during the holding period, reinforcing Five35's belief that businesses addressing critical gaps, such as those in agriculture, can indeed deliver both financial returns and meaningful opportunities for groups with less access to capital and formal markets.

This Complete Farmer transaction marks a pivotal moment, providing Five35 Ventures with a realized exit accompanied by a disclosed return, a phenomenon still relatively limited within African venture capital. The 3.5x multiple and 38% IRR are crucial metrics, underscoring that venture funds ultimately rely on tangible exits, rather than mere paper valuations, to return capital to their investors. While Complete Farmer's valuation surged more than eightfold, Five35's specific return reflects the nuances of entry terms, ownership, dilution, and exit conditions.

The deal also serves to validate the model of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, a $200 million fund-of-funds that primarily invests in African investment managers rather than directly in startups. Five35 Ventures received an anchor investment from this fund in 2025, after its initial investment in Complete Farmer in 2022. Consequently, this exit showcases the manager's existing investment record as much as it benefits from the fund's capital. Furthermore, the exit originates from the agriculture sector, where venture exits have historically been less common compared to areas like fintech, highlighting the diverse potential within African economies.

For Five35 Ventures, this return provides vital capital that can be reinvested into new African technology businesses and offers prospective investors concrete data on its ability to transition from initial investment to liquidity. Critically, its gender-lens strategy is also being tested and validated through financial outcomes, not solely through impact measures. Complete Farmer's growth in valuation, customer base, and job creation, coupled with the robust participation of women across its workforce, farmer network, and board, substantiates this approach. While one exit does not definitively establish a fund's long-term performance, it unequivocally provides Five35 with a measurable, positive result as it continues to raise and deploy more capital across the continent.