Catalyst Fund Secures $3.5m From FSD Africa to Promote Pre-seed Impact Ventures in Africa
The top accelerator and pre-seed impact fund for developing market entrepreneurs, Catalyst Fund, a global inclusive tech accelerator managed by BFA Global, has announced that FSD Africa has contributed $3.5M to underpin the Fund’s presence in Africa and scale its operations.
With the help of FSD Africa, Catalyst Fund will invest in high-impact businesses that strengthen the resilience of underprivileged and climate-vulnerable populations and provide hands-on venture-building support, with a target of assisting 40 pre-seed impact enterprises across Africa.
By energizing investors, capacity-building networks, and corporate innovators to unlock cash, recruit talent, and share knowledge about fintech solutions suited to those communities’ needs, the accelerator will also keep constructing robust innovation ecosystems.
“At FSD Africa, we think that a strong, equitable, and accessible financial system is important to a sustainable future for Africa’s people and its environment,” said Juliet Munro, Director, Digital Economy. Particularly, we think that the financial sector can significantly contribute to the fight against climate vulnerability, and that by leveraging the potential of fintech innovation, we can assist remove market obstacles to the development of urgently required climate resilience solutions. By funding and assisting entrepreneurs, our cooperation with Catalyst Fund will promote innovation while also influencing and growing the pool of available capital for such endeavors.
“We are happy to welcome FSD Africa as an anchor investor of Catalyst Fund to enable our next phase of expansion,” stated Maelis Carraro, managing director of Catalyst Fund. Our primary mission of driving innovation that enhances the resilience and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable groups, particularly women, places the challenge of climate adaptation at the center of our work. As a woman-led fund, we take great pride in the fact that at least 40% of the founders in our portfolio will be female and at least 80% of them will be residents of the nation in which the company is based. We want to advance the overall innovation ecosystem while also improving the lives of vulnerable households and companies.
We will continue to couple our investment with customized venture building assistance from our team of operators and technical experts, as well as establish relationships with the more than 100 international investors in our community and our network of founders in emerging countries, said Carraro. Our venture builders are the engineers, data scientists, and growth marketing specialists that early stage ventures lack access to, and who can accelerate their efforts to develop high-quality, inclusive products more quickly and with less strain on their runway.
61 firms from emerging economies that Catalyst Fund has supported to date have collectively generated more than US$573 million in follow-on funding and served over 13.2 million low-income clients. The next batch of entrepreneurs will offer finance products that strengthen underprivileged and climate-vulnerable populations’ resilience. Solutions for resilience-building and climate adaptation can be found in the fintech and insurtech, agtech, carbon financing, water management, and other critical areas.
Startups interested in becoming a Catalyst Fund Company can apply by visiting http://bfa.works/apply-cf.
