The stage is set for the 2019 iteration of the Pitch AgriHack competition. 20 judges have completed the evaluation of semi-finalist start-ups and have selected the finalists. The judges are industry experts (ICT and agriculture), entrepreneurs and investors coming from Africa and beyond.
Finalists have been selected using ten criteria: proposed solution, agricultural problems addressed, unique value proposition, team composition, market addressed, current market traction, channels/paths to customers, revenues stream, planned milestones and key performance indicators.
Out of the 104 semi-finalists, 22 finalists have been selected (of which 11 are woman-led start-ups). The finalists are (company names in alphabetical order):
Mature platform category
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Akaboxi – A digital financial inclusion system that enables smallholder farmers in a community to manage and monitor their savings together.
Uganda
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Arinifu Technologies Ltd. – Aims to enhance farming in Kenya and Africa at large through technological innovation and making it accessible to both low and high-income farmers.
Kenya
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City Digital Consults – A woman-led digital technology consultancy platform where digital skills, training and services can be acquired confidently, timely and affordably.
Nigeria
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Farmingtech Solutions Ltd. – Woman-led mobile integrated solutions provider for farmers and players in different value chains in the agricultural sector.
Kenya
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Foodlocker Limited – An online marketplace for farm-fresh foods and grocery items from aggregated outputs of smallholder farmers and fast-moving consumer goods companies.
Nigeria
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Jaguza Tech – Mobile app developer for livestock farmers to monitor, track and predict the animals’ health and improve efficiency.
Uganda
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Jinukun – Local producer and seller of rice through an online shop in Benin.
Benin
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NANO Air – Offers a digital solution for farmers to remotely trigger the irrigation through simple SMS commands with a basic phone and to monitor water and energy consumption.
Senegal
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Recy World – Woman-led farmer-to-farmer online platform for machinery rental that allows farm businesses to create efficiencies for both parties, making agriculture more environmentally and financially sustainable.
Nigeria
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Early-stage platform category
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AgriZoom – A crowdfunding and E-commerce platform powered by an Android App that helps farmers, fishermen collectivities and processors of agricultural products to raise funds and to access the market in order to avoid food waste and create sustainable jobs.
Congo
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Complete Farmer – A woman-led digital agribusiness platform that provides industries an easy way to source for food raw materials and a convenient way for individuals to own farms.
Ghana
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Efarmu – Woman-led mobile app developer, enabling farmers to generate daily and monthly reports about the farm including profitability of each cow, average performance data of a particular breed etc., allowing farmers to compare the performance of dairy herds.
Uganda
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Endelea Uganda – Woman-led startup, designing and developing services and applications to improve productivity of African smallholder farmers.
Uganda
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Farmers Market Kenya – A woman online marketplace where buyers and sellers meet to trade farm-related products and services.
Kenya
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FootMo Kit – Developer of a handheld device that diagnoses foot and mouth diseases in livestock in remote and low resources areas by enabling local farmers to test the viral diseases on their own without relying on the veterinary doctors.
Uganda
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Raino Tech4Impact – A woman-led provider of a solar-powered cold chain, cold storage and related logistics in small scale agriculture to help manage post-harvest losses.
Kenya
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Nocofio – Finance service provider allowing individuals to partner with a farmer or own a farm by investing money through the platform.
Ghana
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ProFish – A woman-led supply chain platform, called Lojaanor, which offers an on-demand service connecting local fish producers to a distributed network of fish buyers like wholesalers, retailers and consumers.
Ghana
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Savanna Circuit Tech Ltd. – An ICT consultancy for businesses and strategic innovative solutions in sectors spanning agribusiness, manufacturing, renewable energy and waste management.
Kenya
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Technoplus – Developer of IT solutions such as Agripoll, a mobile app enabling farmers, extension workers and key stakeholders to share pests and disease management information.
Uganda
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TechShelta – Developer of solutions for farmer support such as a web and mobile application providing greenhouse farmers with access to advisory, automation and market linkages as well as controlling humidity,temperature and irrigation in their greenhouses.
Ghana
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Fly Colony – A platform utilizing food waste in the production of a protein rich animal feed ingredient i.e maggot meal through Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farming, addressi the problems of food waste and environmental degradation.
Nigeria
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With six representatives, Uganda tops the finalist countries, followed by Kenya with five representatives, Ghana and Nigeria with each having four representatives.
Participation in the 2019 African Green Revolution Forum
Finalists will take part in the 2019 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Accra, Ghana from 3 to 6 September 2019. AGRF is organised by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and partners such as CTA, YARA, FAO, The African Development Bank Group, CGIAR, IFAD, the OCP Group. They will attend a training session on investment readiness and will have the opportunity to pitch their solutions to development partners and potential investors. Winners will be announced on the closing day of the AGRF which will gather over 2,000 participants including high-level government and private sector representatives.
The theme of AGRF 2019 is “Grow Digital: Leveraging Digital Transformation to Drive Sustainable Food Systems in Africa.”
Rewards
Seven prizes will be awarded, including a special data analysis prize, GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation Awards, OCP Group Award and World Bank Awards. Each winning company will receive a cash prize of up to €15,000, as well as promotion and other business growth support.
About Pitch Agrihack
Pitch AgriHack is part of CTA’s AgriHack Talent initiative and aims at accelerating e-agriculture entrepreneurship for growth and job creation in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. This year’s edition is organised in collaboration with partners including AGRA, OCP Group, the World Bank, GreenTec Capital, GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation, FAO, Agribusiness TV, Iceaddis, BongoHive, Yeessal AgriHub, Silicon Caribe, Africa Projects Development Centre.
Congratulations to all finalists and thank you to all partners.