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Ilias Sousis, the visionary founder behind WikiFarmer, set out to change that, while addressing some of the biggest challenges in the industry as well. Driven by a mission to connect farmers directly with business buyers, WikiFarmer has grown into a global 360 platform that transforms the agricultural world by educating farmers, enabling producers to sell directly to more buyers, achieving fairer prices, and helping buyers purchase safely in a scalable way.

Before founding WikiFarmer, Ilias had a notable career at Google, having spent 11 years shaping digital strategies. Under his leadership, WikiFarmer has helped millions of farmers worldwide, providing them with the tools and opportunities needed to grow their businesses.

In this interview, we explore the journey behind WikiFarmer, the challenges along the way, and the company’s vision for the future.

1. What inspired you to create WikiFarmer, and what challenges from the agriculture world did you aim to solve in the start?

The inspiration for WikiFarmer came from recognizing two main challenges in agriculture. Firstly, many farmers still use outdated cultivation methods, resulting in lower yields and less sustainable practices. We aimed to address this by offering free, up-to-date content on agricultural best practices. Secondly, farming commerce remains one of the least digitized industries, with multiple intermediaries dominating the value chain. Our goal was to help farmers connect directly with end buyers, allowing them to extract more value from the supply chain, increase their profitability, and thus be able to re-invest on their farms (equipment, technology, people) making the agricultural ecosystem much healthier and economically viable.

2. How does WikiFarmer bridge the gap between small farmers and global buyers?

WikiFarmer bridges the gap between small farmers and global buyers through our B2B marketplace which acts like a full stack B2B procurement assistant for buyers and a sales director for farmers. We enable farmers to sell their products directly to businesses, minimizing intermediaries and helping them achieve better prices. Our platform acts as a purchasing assistant for B2B buyers, offering hassle-free sourcing, online price negotiation, logistics support, and transaction transparency by digitizing every single step of an agricultural commerce transaction with the help of 3rd parties. We also help farmers bridge the gap of financing by assisting them in getting access to capital and working with serious buyers directly.

3. What sets WikiFarmer apart from the competition?

What sets WikiFarmer apart is the unique combination of our educational library and marketplace. Our library has been translated into 17 languages and visited by millions of farmers worldwide, which allows us to easily convert them into sellers on our marketplace. This dual approach creates a comprehensive ecosystem that supports farmers from learning to selling, making us a hub for both farmers and their potential buyers.

4. How does the platform help buyers overcome challenges like climate change and supply chain disruptions?

WikiFarmer helps buyers overcome challenges like climate change and supply chain disruptions by providing access to a wide, global network of suppliers. This diversity allows buyers to mitigate risks associated with logistical issues and crop failures. We also offer flexible credit terms and quality guarantees to help businesses cope with both internal and external threats.

5. What role does WifiFarmer’s digital library play in educating and empowering farmers with knowledge?

WikiFarmer's digital library plays a crucial role in educating and empowering farmers. It offers over 15,000 original articles in 17 languages, covering everything from the latest scientific advancements to practical farming manuals. This free, open resource helps farmers upgrade their techniques, improve product quality, and adopt more sustainable practices. And more importantly, we now have more than 300 UGC authors (farmers, agronomists, professors) that write their content, giving even more advanced knowledge to the community.

6. How did your platform become known as “the Wikipedia of farming”?

Our platform became known as "the Wikipedia of farming" due to our extensive, freely accessible knowledge base. The United Nations recognized our library with this moniker, acknowledging its comprehensive coverage of agricultural topics and its availability in multiple languages.

7. Who are your backers and how have they helped you so far?

Our backers include world-class funds, such as Point Nine Capital, with deep expertise in both software and B2B marketplaces. Their contribution was significant as they have a deep view of similar business models that have helped us avoid mistakes and also accelerate our GTM and product strategy, achieving our product market fit. Also, our cap table includes world class angel investors who are well known entrepreneurs and come either from a traditional business background or have founded their own startups. These investors have provided not just financial support but also valuable expertise and networks to help us expand our reach and impact.

8. What have been the biggest challenges in scaling WikiFarmer across different countries and markets?

The biggest challenge in scaling WikiFarmer across different countries and markets has been the slow adoption of digital channels in the agrifood business. Buyers are still not fully accustomed to digital platforms, requiring significant resources for training and education on our tools, however, when they test our solution, they become power users, and they rarely leave. I believe that the tipping point will happen in 5 years, where there will be a generational shift and purchase managers will be from 30-45 years old, meaning people that have been using digital tools for all aspects of their lives.

9. What are the next major milestones for WikiFarmer? How do you see the platform evolving in the next years?

Our next major milestones include becoming the leading platform for agricultural outputs in Europe, adding thousands of buyers to our platform, and becoming the synonym of the Mediterranean produce (The Mediterranean is the biggest agricultural production area in the globe for fruits and vegetables). Thus, we plan to expand into markets where farmers need us most, such as Africa and Latin America.

On the product side, we aim to further develop our technology to automate B2B transactions, minimizing effort and time for buyers and sellers, through the use of AI technologies.

Revenue wise, we want to cross the 100M GMV mark in the next 2 years and start further monetizing all the 3rd party services that we are aggregating on the platform (logistics, quality, financing).

Explore the opportunity on SeedBlink.