Today pre-seed venture capital (VC) fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund announced a $2 million investment into ten startups building solutions to improve the resilience of climate-vulnerable communities in Africa. This is the inaugural cohort of the new $30M VC fund of Catalyst Fund, anchored by financial sector development agency FSD Africa, aimed at supporting early-stage founders to develop technology that will make Africa more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Every ten startups will be offered $100K of equity investments and $100K of hands-on venture-building support.
These companies will join Catalyst Fund’s existing portfolio of 61 startups across emerging markets and receive capital, bespoke and expert-led venture-building support, and direct connections with investors, corporate innovators and talent networks that can help them scale. Catalyst Fund’s portfolio companies have raised over US$640 million in follow-on funding and currently serve more than 14 million individuals and MSMEs globally.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with ten groundbreaking African startups working to build a more resilient and sustainable future,” said Maelis Carraro, Managing Partner of Catalyst Fund. “Our goal is to back mission-driven founders that share our vision of a world where every individual has the tools and opportunities they need to thrive. From agtech to insurtech, waste management, disaster response, and carbon finance, these startups display finance, tech, and business model innovations that will help communities better adapt to climate impacts and grow their resilience.”
The ten companies joining this next cohort of Catalyst Fund are Agro Supply (Uganda), Assuraf (Senegal), Bekia (Egypt), Eight Medical (Nigeria), Farm to Feed (Kenya), Farmz2U (Nigeria, Kenya), Octavia Carbon (Kenya), PaddyCover (Nigeria), Sand to Green (Morocco), VAIS (Egypt).
“At FSD Africa, we believe that by harnessing the power of tech, and specifically fintech innovation, we can help to spur the development of climate resilience solutions for Africa, thereby helping deliver on COP27’s core themes of adaptation and implementation,” said Juliet Munro, Director of Digital Economy at FSD Africa. “These companies are strong examples of the innovation we need to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities across the continent.”
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