Food Africa Accelerator
@iBizAfrica and Pangea Trust
Food Africa Accelerator is an accelerator aimed at addressing food security through fostering innovation. The project is commissioned by GIZ Make IT in Africa, a project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Food AFrica Accelerator is implemented by @iBizAfrica and Pangea Trust
The program is designed to support women and youth owned, agri based enterprises to sustain business growth through facilitating access to financing, business support and technology adoption. We received over 840 applications and picked the 10 best AgriTech startups.
The eleven selected startups joining the accelerator are:
IFarm360 – A digital crowd farming platform that brings together farmers, investors and markets to enable farming as a business.
SolarFreeze – A pioneering startup providing mobile cold storage units powered by renewable energy for rural smallholder farmers to help them reduce the huge challenge of post-harvest loss.
Shamba Records – A distributed ledger that runs on Blockchain technology and uses big data and artificial intelligence to collect farmer’s data and process payments to farmers.
Ecodudu – a waste-to-value company that uses a proprietary innovation to recycle organic waste into high-protein animal feed and organic fertilizer using the black soldier fly.
Faina Innovation – a company that has developed a farm sanitation product (Solarbag®) for management of fruit fly and other pests. The product is also used for rapid on-farm production of compost fertilizer and soil sterilization.
Mhogo Foods – The company adds value to the cassava tubers by processing them into affordable, nutritious gluten-free flour, cassava crisps, cassava starch and cassava based animal feeds.
Digicow – a record keeping mobile application for both smallholder and enterprise farmers engaged in dairy farming enabling them to increase their profits through data driven decision making.
Mula Exports – a grower and exporter of fresh produce (fruits and veggies) in Kenya.The company also contracts small scale farmers to complement production and raise living standards by providing the smallholders with a ready market for their produce.
Taste Afrique – are manufacturers of Chibundiro, a mixture of grounded natural spices to enhance nutritional value for consumers.
FreshPro Farms – a data-driven agribusiness consumer demand for fresh produce with farmers production capacity creating a seamless business model devoid of the waste and inefficiency associated with agriculture.
The 10 week program focus on supporting the startups in theses areas
- ACCESS TO SEED CAPITAL
The program will groom participants to have the necessary tools and skills to secure investment from a pre-selected pool of investors. - BUSINESS 2 BUSINESS SALES OPPORTUNITIES
The program will support entrepreneurs access market linkages through B2B opportunities with leading businesses in the sector. - PERSONALIZED COACHING
Experienced coaches will facilitate scheduled or need based mentorship to provide personalized attention in addressing each company’s needs. Coaches also support tailoring growth strategies and pathways - ADAPTIVE LEARNING
Entrepreneurs will undergo an intensive period of business evaluation and diagnosis. The curriculum is then tailored to meet the unique needs of each company