Gro Intelligence, a Kenyan firm that has established its headquarters in the US, is closing shop due to insufficient capital inflows. Despite the fact that the company received some emergency funds in March 2024, it was not sufficient and could not be sourced from the current and new investors. The company has been struggling since February 2024 after failing to pay its employees even though it had managed to secure about $117 million since its inception in 2012.
Gro Intelligence informed the few remaining employees in Kenya and the US that it would be shutting down last week after the company fired most of its staff and its CEO a few months ago. The company will be left with only a few people to wrap up the remaining work.
The company also faces legal woes arising from accusations of not observing regulations on providing notice before massive dismissals from some of its employees. Due to this, The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into Gro Intelligence for possible wrongful conduct. New CEO James Cariello did not comment on any of these accusations.
Gro Intelligence was established in 2012 by Sara Menker who previously worked as a trader in energy commodities. The company’s principal goal was to create the largest database for farming by obtaining data from governments, trade associations, financial markets and weather services to assist farming companies. One of its customers is Unilever, which is a giant organization in the production of consumer products.
