Nine African startups have been selected for the Katapult Africa Accelerator Program.
Having screened over 700 startups, the 9 companies selected by Katapult Africa Accelerator cut across food-, agri- and climate impact-tech on the continent.
The selected startups had the opportunity to pitch their business ideas during the Katapult Africa Accelerator launch on November 4 in Kigali, Rwanda organised by Katapult in partnership with Norad, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Norrsken, and Smart Africa.
Speaking at the official opening of the accelerator program, the Minister of Technology and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, congratulated the start-ups and pointed out that Africa needs more innovations and ideas that provide sustainable solutions
Over a 3-month period, the startups will go through Katapult’s world-class impact accelerator program, with a track record of producing ‘impact unicorns.’ The cohort will engage in rigorous workshops, online meetups, mentor sessions, pitch training and investor presentations specifically designed to prepare the startups for scaling.
Founded in 2017 by the serial entrepreneur and tech investor, Tharald Nustad, Katapult has invested in 145 portfolio companies and has run ten accelerator programs to date.
Commenting on the launch, Nustad said the decision to launch Katapult in Africa was driven by both a clear recognition of the need for change and an unprecedented opportunity for innovation.
“At Katapult we are highly ambitious and we set our vision to nothing short of building a thriving world for all. It is for this reason that today’s launch represents an important step forward for both Katapult and the impact community,”
“With a climate in crisis, it is all too clear that we must accelerate technologies to both overcome climate challenges and ensure food security. We simultaneously believe that it is Africa with its fast-growing business communities and young, tech-savvy population who are best placed to deliver highly scalable, highly impactful solutions,” Nustad said.
“With the price of inaction all too high and the opportunity for innovation all too apparent, it is a great privilege for us to be able to present 9 of the most dynamic African startups as they begin their Katapult journey,” he added.
Speaking at the launch and of the ambitions of the program, Philip Gasaatura, Katapult Country Director, Rwanda, said that the launch was a climax of a rigorous exercise to identify and invest in the most promising and sustainable startups with the potential to scale and invest in them.
“Beyond investing in them, we take them through our accelerator program which focuses on their growth, their investment strategy and their impact strategy. This is the beginning of the program.
“At the end of the three months program, which will be in January, they will be pitching to a network of our global investors across the world and will be getting them to raise the funding for their companies.
“I’m really excited for the future in Africa seeing many companies work tirelessly to solve the challenges in their communities and across Africa.”
Afrikamart: Building the best B2B marketplace for smallholder farmers and food businesses.
AquaRech LTD: Aquarech is at the forefront of aquaculture innovations to transform fish farmer livelihoods across Kenya. Strengthening the fish value chain and spearheading sustainable, environment-friendly practices buoys all actors involved.
Elucid.social: Elucid advances human rights in global supply chains by improving producers’ health and livelihoods.
Gricd Integrated Services limited: Helps businesses reduce loss of perishables through real-time asset monitoring.
GrowAgric: GrowAgric is an end-to-end solution that provides small-scale farmers with access to training, working capital financing, farm record-keeping digital tools and access to new markets for their products.
Legendary Foods (Africa): Delivering the nutrition of meat at the price & sustainability of plants using insect agriculture.
Sand to Green: Cultivating desert into arable land managed by regenerative agriculture practices and solar-desalination
Spark: Spark is a social finance app that makes transactions with your contacts better. Spark lets users chat and transact easily in one place, custom manage group finances, and view all transaction records in an organized way.
Vetsark Limited: Vetsark helps farmers and agribusinesses digitalise their data and get bank financing.
