Deere & Co. announced today it has made a minority investment in Hello Tractor, a Nairobi, Kenya-based company connecting tractor owners with smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia through a farm-equipment-sharing app. The company’s app allows farmers to track and manage their equipment, book customers and access financing options. Hello Tractor was one of the first companies to participate in the John Deere Startup Collaborator program that launched in 2019, and since then Hello Tractor founder Jehiel Oliver said the partnership between the two companies has grown. “John Deere sees this as an opportunity to support Hello Tractor’s innovative work to provide technologies and solutions to agricultural entrepreneurs in Africa and Asia,” said Jason Brantley, director of Deere’s Ag & Turf Sales & Marketing – Africa and Asia. Hello Tractor has about 25 employees and will continue to operate from its current location in Africa.