Tomato Jos Founder Builds $18M Startup to Fix Nigeria's Tomato Waste

Mira Mehta's journey from finance to farming has transformed Nigeria's tomato industry.

Apr. 12, 2026 at 9:06am

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

A high-end, photorealistic studio still-life photograph featuring a carefully arranged composition of premium, polished objects representing the tomato value chain, such as a glass jar of tomato paste, a freshly harvested tomato, and a set of farming tools, set against a clean, monochromatic background with dramatic studio lighting and deep shadows, conceptually illustrating the startup's work in supply chain optimization, agricultural technology, and sustainable business models.Tomato Jos' innovative approach to Nigeria's tomato value chain is bearing fruit, both literally and figuratively.NYC Today

Mira Mehta, a Finnish-Indian American, moved to Nigeria in 2014 to work for a healthcare nonprofit. While there, she noticed vast amounts of tomatoes going to waste across the country, despite high domestic demand for tomato paste. This paradox inspired Mehta to found Tomato Jos, a startup that has raised over $18 million to improve tomato yields, processing, and distribution in Nigeria.

Why it matters

Nigeria is one of the largest tomato producers in West Africa, yet it is also a major importer of tomato paste. Tomato Jos is tackling this inefficiency in the tomato value chain by empowering local farmers, building processing infrastructure, and shifting consumer perceptions of locally-produced tomato products.

The details

Mehta started Tomato Jos in 2014 with a small farming experiment to demonstrate that higher tomato yields are possible in Nigeria. Over the next six years, she gradually built the business, raising small amounts of funding from prizes, crowdfunding, and angel investors. In 2017, Tomato Jos attracted its first institutional investor, and by 2020 had raised €3.9 million for an irrigation and processing plant. The company has since secured $12.2 million, the largest raise by a female-led startup in Africa in 2024. Tomato Jos has built a controlled supply chain model, providing farmers with inputs, equipment, and technical guidance to boost yields from the national average of 5 tons per hectare to around 60 tons.

  • Mehta founded Tomato Jos in 2014.
  • Tomato Jos raised €3.9 million in 2020 for an irrigation and processing plant.
  • Tomato Jos secured $12.2 million in funding in 2024, the largest raise by a female-led startup in Africa that year.

The players

Mira Mehta

The founder and CEO of Tomato Jos, a Finnish-Indian American who moved to Nigeria in 2014 to work for a healthcare nonprofit and was inspired to start the tomato processing company.

Tomato Jos

A startup founded in 2014 that is tackling inefficiencies in Nigeria's tomato value chain by improving yields, processing, and distribution of tomato products.

Aliko Dangote

Africa's richest man, who established a $20 million tomato processing factory in northern Nigeria in 2016 to reduce the country's reliance on tomato paste imports.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“I hated everything about my job except the salary.”

— Mira Mehta, Founder and CEO, Tomato Jos

“Abuja is a bubble. You need to see the real Nigeria.”

— Mira Mehta's boss

“I realised I don't actually know what people need. But if they had money, they could decide for themselves.”

— Mira Mehta, Founder and CEO, Tomato Jos

What’s next

Tomato Jos plans to continue strengthening its local operations, improving supply chains, expanding distribution, and building consumer trust in its locally-produced tomato products. The company is also exploring export opportunities, but its priority remains building a resilient domestic system.

The takeaway

Tomato Jos' journey shows how a determined entrepreneur can tackle deep-rooted inefficiencies in a country's agricultural sector by taking a holistic approach to the supply chain, empowering local farmers, and changing consumer perceptions.