Catalyst Fund Announces $2M Investment Into 10 Startups Enhancing Resilience of Underserved, Climate-vulnerable Communities in Africa

A $2 million investment into 10 entrepreneurs creating solutions to increase the resilience of climate-vulnerable populations in Africa has been announced by pre-seed venture capital (VC) fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund.

Pre-seed venture capital fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund supports high-impact tech firms looking to strengthen the resilience of underprivileged, climate-vulnerable populations. It collaborates with entrepreneurs with a mission who share our desire for a society where everyone has access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed.

The organization has previously provided selected firms with grant financing, but this most recent group of entrepreneurs is supported by a new US$30 million fund, which is anchored by the financial sector development organization FSD Africa.

The fund’s goal is to assist early-stage entrepreneurs in creating technology that can increase Africa’s resistance to the effects of climate change.

The 10 businesses chosen for this cohort will receive US$100,000 in hands-on venture-building assistance in addition to US$100,000 in equity financing. They will join Catalyst Fund’s current portfolio of 61 companies in emerging markets, where they will get funding, specialized, expert-led venture development assistance, and direct access to investors, corporate innovators, and talent networks that can help them scale.

Three of the chosen businesses are from Nigeria: the cloud-native EMS platform Eight Medical, the firm for sustainable agriculture Farmz2U, and the insurtech platform PaddyCover.

Two of them are from Kenya—Farm to Feed, a startup in the food supply chain, and Octavia Carbon, a Direct Air Capture (DAC) company—and two more are from Egypt—the tech-enabled garbage collection service Bekia and the precision agri-tech business VAIS.

The cohort is completed by the agroforestry firm Sand to Green, the Senegalese insurtech platform Assuraf, and the mobile layaway system Agro Supply from Uganda.

Maelis Carraro, managing partner of Catalyst Fund, said, “We are excited to have the opportunity to engage with 10 breakthrough African businesses aiming to build a more resilient and sustainable future. “Our objective is to support mission-driven entrepreneurs that share our vision of a society in which each person has access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. These firms demonstrate financial, technological, and business model innovations that will assist communities in better coping with the effects of climate change and increasing their resilience, from agri-tech to insurtech, waste management, disaster response, and carbon finance.