Seven African startups have won combined prize money of EUR60,000 (US$66,000) after being named winners of the annual Pitch AgriHack competition.
The annual Pitch AgriHack is a competition organised by CTA to help young agricultural entrepreneurs build viable businesses and boost innovation for a more sustainable agricultural sector.
Twenty-two finalist startups were selected from a field of 326 applicants, and underwent a underwent training through a bootcamp process before pitching their innovations to potential investors and a judging panel at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Accra, Ghana.
Early-stage startup winners were Ghana’s Profish and Kenya’s Savanna Circuit Tech, which took home EUR7,500 (US$8,000) and EUR5,000 (US$5,500) each. In the mature startup category, Uganda’s Jaguza won EUR15,000 (US$16,500) and Kenya’s Arinifu EUR12,500 (US$13,800).
Nigeria’s Trackball Global Technologies won the EUR5,000 (US$5,500) public choice award, the EUR10,000 (US$11,000) Data Analytics Award went to Nigeria’s Foodlocker, and the GreenTec award went to Ghana’s TechShelta, which took home EUR5,000 (US$5,500).
The applications range from software to track the production of milk from farm-to-market, to a mobile-based web application to improve productivity, to low cost handheld devices to detect animal diseases.
“It’s a rewarding legacy for CTA, which has pioneered support for digital entrepreneurship among young people in the agricultural sector. Through Pitch AgriHack we have discovered self-taught youngsters, who are full of ideas and determination, and who are providing answers to some of Africa’s persistent challenges,” said CTA director Michael Hailu.
