The Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC), funded by the Mastercard Foundation and Kosmos Energy, has organized the first pitch session for 30 start-ups working to bring their business to market.
A pitch session held last week saw big businesses in the agricultural value chain pitch their ideas to experts for advice and support. The business includes production, processing, mechanization, storage and marketing among others in Ghana’s agricultural value chain.
The 30 business start-ups include 15 businesses selected from the KIC AgriTech Challenge Classic program held last year. The remaining 15 are registered from the applications received from the opening of the AgriTech Challenge Pro in 2022.
The review team, known in the KIC Program as the Idea Team, is made up of experienced agricultural and industrial experts, interested in strategic plans and approaches for scalability, impact, positive income and sustainability.
The pitch event was organized at the KIC Incubation Hub in Accra.
The event featured 5 universities representing the region-University of Ghana for Greater Accra, University of Development Studies for the Northern Region, University of Business Integration and Development Studies for the Upper West, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for the Ashanti Region and University of Cape Coast for the Central Region. Business startups, led by university faculty advisors and KIC Program Officers have been supporting startups with coaching and mentoring while KIC has been providing capacity training since last year.
Inspiring the participants, Benjamin Gyan Kesse, Executive Director of the Kosmos Innovation Center said: “We want to continue to empower young people to be innovative and feel enough to pursue agriculture with an evolving mindset. This is one of the missions of the Foundation.
The Ideasi team will review the startup’s work and based on their performance, some will be selected to move on to the next phase of the program where additional training and other startup service support will be provided for business development.
The Ideasi team expressed their excitement at the innovative business ideas presented by these young entrepreneurs and asked for support for their businesses.
At the end of this first pitch, all participating entrepreneurs have a minimum viable product.
Startups that do not make it to the next stage of the AgriTech Challenge Pro are eligible to join the Kosmos Innovation Center Fellowship, which offers networking opportunities, capacity building programs, and coaching.
This initiative further demonstrates KIC and Mastercard Foundation’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs on their business development journey.
Travel to the KIC AgriTech Challenge Pro
In October 2022, the Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) announced fifteen (15) emerging startups in the agricultural technology solutions space as the grand winners of the 2022 AgriTech Challenge Classic. Fifteen selected teams advance to the next stage, the AgriTech Challenge Pro.
The KIC AgriTech Challenge Pro is an acceleration program aimed at equipping early-stage or startup AgriTech teams with the right tools, funding, and support to bring their business idea or product to market and prepare for scale.
The program was developed to create opportunities for teams that have already formed and want to take their business to the next level. KIC AgriTech Challenge Pro is included, offering services to all agribusiness teams.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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