The winners of the 2022/2023 Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) AgriTech Challenge Pro were announced in a final pitch competition held in Accra on Friday March 24, 2023. This comes after months of extensive training on entrepreneurship and business development, with coaching from a team of experts drawn from academia, business, industry, civil society, and government.
The KIC AgriTech Challenge Pro competition provides a platform for young entrepreneurs to showcase their innovative ideas and businesses and compete for funding support while receiving skills that help them develop their business modules and strategies. Participants are drawn from the AgriTech Challenge Classic program and from a pool of existing start-ups who are ready to nurture their business for investor readiness.
The teams were coached and mentored by the following universities: University of Cape Coast, the University of Ghana, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the University for Development Studies and the SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies.
Among those present at the event were KIC Board Chair Mr. Joe Mensah, members of the KIC Board, representatives from Kosmos Energy, Mastercard Foundation Country Director Rosy Fynn, as well as other stakeholder organizations across the innovation and agribusiness ecosystem in Ghana.
This year’s edition of the AgriTech Challenge Pro forms part of the implementation of a multi-year partnership agreement with the Mastercard Foundation to train the next generation of young leaders and entrepreneurs in Ghana’s agriculture sector.
Twenty start-ups competed for a total prize pool of US$350,000. At the end of the pitch competition, Kodu Technology (University for Development Studies) and Agro Empire (University of Ghana) each won US$50,000. AgroCold Ghana (University of Cape Coast) won US$40,000.
DorthNoch, Awunpara, and Wobil Technologies (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) each received US$20,000. JAASGrow (University of Cape Coast), Sagrisalma (University for Development Studies), King Tractor and KigoAgro (SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies), and AquaMet (University of Ghana) won US$30,000 each.
In addition to funding support, the winners will continue to receive mentorship and coaching from the Kosmos Innovation Center team and its experts and will collaborate with the business incubation and innovation hubs from the campuses from the programme’s partner university campuses.
Bftonline