The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Challenge 2021 for Agritech Startups

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog (Govt. of India); Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Rabo Foundation; International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); and Bayer, is launching an innovation platform to enable the cross-border exchange of innovations, insights and investments.

The first initiative of the Platform is the Agritech Challenge (‘Programme’), with a focus on improving the financial health of smallholder farmers. The Programme will support agritech and agri-fintech startups to expand to international markets, across Kenya, Malawi, Uganda & Zambia in Africa, and Malaysia, India & Indonesia in Asia.

The selected participants will get access to industry, investor & market linkages, along with mentorship from sector experts to help them build and test their solution in their chosen international market, with subsequent support on scaling the solution as well.

Eligibility Requirements

Applications are invited from participants that meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Registered Entity: A startup registered in any of the participating countries, with at least 2 years of operations
• Revenue: At least USD $ 150,000 average annual revenue in the last 2 years; or USD 100,000 average annual revenue in the last years

Solution

Live solution with an active customer and/or user base, and not in development/testing phase

Applications are invited from participants that meet the following eligibility criteria:

Registered Entity: A startup registered in any of the participating countries, with at least 2 years of operations

Revenue: At least USD $ 150,000 average annual revenue in the last 2 years; or USD 100,000 average annual revenue in the last years

Solution

Live solution with an active customer and/or user base, and not in development/testing phase

Participation Benefits

Market Access: Linkages with industry/market partners and local innovators to help co-create and pilot solutions in the chosen market

Expansion Guidance: Guidance from innovations hubs and experts on solution framework and regulatory and compliance landscape

Sector Insights: Mentoring and support from a network of country and ecosystem partners around sector insights and local market linkages

Investor Showcase: Opportunity to connect and showcase the business to an investor network and raise capital to support the scale-up

Continued Support

Post-program support to scale up the solution

Opportunity to be considered for a financial grant

How to Apply:

If you are interested in applying for this opportunity, kindly follow the link below to apply

Click here to apply for the UNCDF Agritech Challenge 2021

Application Deadline: August 30th, 2021

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!