The continuation of the African Agritech Accelerator initiative, which aims to support a second cohort of early-stage African agritech firms, has been announced by Endeavor and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank.
Building on the successes and knowledge gathered from the first cohort, which ran from February 2022 to February 2023, the new program is set to start in January 2024.
This program’s main objective is to address the growth issues that agritech startups on the African continent encounter. Additionally, it aims to broaden the cohort’s focus by including tech start-ups related to agriculture.
Entrepreneurs will have the chance to engage with subject matter and industry experts, as well as possible investors, by utilizing Endeavor’s tailored mentoring methodology and vast network.
The goal of Endeavor is to foster healthy entrepreneurial ecosystems in developing and underdeveloped markets around the world. It does this by encouraging high-growth business owners to dream big, assisting and funding their expansion, and giving them a platform to give back to the network.
“It’s truly exciting for Endeavor to collaborate with FMO and AfricaGrow to drive growth in the Agritech sector of Africa, thereby enhancing food security and fostering local revenue and job growth across the continent,” said Alison Collier, Managing Director of Endeavor SA, in expressing her enthusiasm.
“We are excited to carry on working with promising African agritech startups to help them expand faster by introducing them to founders, financiers, and mentors through Endeavor’s international network.”
AfricaGrow has joined as a co-funder for the program in addition to FMO’s funding, highlighting their shared commitment to bolstering the agritech sector in Africa. In order to achieve scale, our alliance wants to actively increase the pipeline of investable companies and draw additional local, regional, and international investors.
The Dutch government and the European Union jointly support the Technical Assistance Facility of the FMO Ventures Program, which includes the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building component. By improving the services of incubators, accelerators, and other entrepreneurial support groups and facilitating more early-stage financing for businesses, this component aims to advance the maturity of the venture capital industry in certain emerging nations.
As the program manager for FMO Ventures, Marieke Roestenberg has emphasized that offering more investment readiness services for scaling businesses is crucial in expanding the agritech sector across Africa.
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