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Lersha

“Can a phygital agricultural platform become the embedded financial services backbone for smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa?”

Founded2018
HQAddis Ababa, Ethiopia
Total raised$1M
IndustryVertical SaaS / Agriculture
The story

Founded in 2018 as Green Agro Solution PLC, Lersha began as a digital agricultural marketplace connecting Ethiopian smallholder farmers to inputs and mechanization. The platform progressively added embedded finance layers — first credit scoring and microloan facilitation, then market linkage and agro-climate advisory — evolving into a comprehensive phygital one-stop shop. Lersha's current model relies on a network of 2,500+ field agents and mobile apps to extend financial and agri-services to farmers who lack digital infrastructure, positioning it as an agri-fintech bridging the last mile in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Last 12 months
2026-02
2025-02
Product timeline
2018
Green Agro Solution PLC founded and began developing the Lersha platform to connect smallholder farmers in Ethiopia with agricultural inputs, mechanization, and advisory services.· pivot
2021
Lersha expanded into access-to-finance services, building digital credit scoring tools to match farmers with financial institutions for in-kind microloans.· lending
2023
Lersha launched the phygital model leveraging 2,000+ local agents, a multilingual call centre (7860), and mobile apps across six regions in Ethiopia and one county in Kenya.· banking
2026
FarmFit published analysis of Lersha's phygital business model, highlighting the bundling of climate-smart packages and access-to-finance for women farmers across Ethiopia.· pivot
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Lersha’s embedded-finance stack
Lending
Access to Finance platform (in-kind microloan facilitation)Digital Credit Scoring ToolsFarmer creditworthiness assessment and matching to financial institutions
Accounting gap: minor