12 startups in next stage of Village Capital’s ‘FinTech for Agriculture’ accelerator programme

The three month accelerator programme aims to unlock innovations that increase access to financial services for smallholder farmers. Village Capital has pre-committed US$100,000 in investment to be shared by two startups in the cohort.

This year the Village Capital flagship accelerator programme returns to East Africa for the third time; With over 125 applications received for the 2015 programme from nine African countries.

Village Capital’s investment committee selected the 12 most outstanding startups on the basis of how their ideas have the potential to increase incomes for smallholder farmers by improving their access to financial services.

The 12 startup firms selected to join the three month programme are:

Atikus Insurance, Chamasoft, Ensibuuko, FarmDrive, Farmerline, MShamba, Mobipay, nanoCredit Technologies, Rangerland Solutions, Redcore Interactive, SmartMoney and YieldUganda.

The chosen startups will commence the three month programme focusing on business model canvassing, customer hypothesis testing, financial modeling, partnership and customer development, and investor engagement.

The cohort will present to potential partners and customers at a pitch day, as well as pitch to investors at an investor demo day.

“Thanks to the pool of talented and innovative startups that applied for a place on our programme from across East Africa, it was a challenging process to select the final 12. We have been truly impressed with the quality of applications received this year,” John Mulqueen, Financial Associate at Village Capital said, speaking at the launch event. “We are very excited to get started with our programme, and get down to work, we look forward to building and shaping the innovative solutions our startups are creating, and we believe their work will truly unlock the value of East Africa’s agricultural sector,” Mulqueen said.

Programme graduates are expected to increase their revenue growth by 4.5 times, and distribute goods and/or services to 200,000 customers within the two years following completion of the accelerator.

Village Capital estimates the companies forming the cohort will create 200 jobs over the next two years in East Africa, with an estimated 60% of jobs going to individuals living below the poverty line.

The accelerator will see the 12 startups participate in three workshops to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on April 15-18, May 19-22 and June 22-25. The two startups to receive the funding will be announced at the end of June.

The winners of the funding will be chosen by the accelerator participants at the end of the programme in June. Each of the two selected companies will receive US$50,000 in funding.