Ten African sustainability startups have been selected to take part in the Innovation for Ecosystem Restoration Africa 2023 programme, which aims to support entrepreneurs promoting ecosystem restoration by addressing deforestation, land degradation, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and adverse climate change.
Run by Village Capital, with support from Moody’s Foundation, the Innovation for Ecosystem Restoration Africa 2023 programme attracted applicants from 22 countries across Africa, with the final cohort comprising 10 startups sourced from Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
Village Capital will provide expert training sessions enabling the startups to refine their sustainability solutions, improve their investment readiness as they prepare to scale their startups, and access the organization’s global network of investors.
Three of the selected startups are based in Kenya, namely Inno-Neat Energy Solutions, an off-grid clean energy solutions provider; Octavia Carbon, which designs and builds Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to reverse climate change and end the fossil fuel age; and Organic Fields, which collects biodegradable food waste and converts it through controlled composting into an organic fertiliser.
Uganda has two representatives, in the shape of Akatale On Cloud, which turns vegetables, fruits, and slaughterhouse waste into animal feed and organic fertiliser using the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae; and Hydroponics Gardens Masaka, which manufactures hydroponic gardens for women and smallholder farmers in urban and rural Uganda.
Nigeria also has two startups in the cohort, namely D-Olivette Enterprise, which designs and sells biodigesters known as Bio-tanks that produce biogas, fertiliser and animal feed for smallholder farmers and agrarian communities; and Integrated Aerial Precision, an agricultural drone technology and data analytics service provider.
Zambia’s Fourth Line, which enables smallholder farmers to produce honey and value-added products as a sustainable source of social and economic livelihood; South Africa’s Spek Tech, a digital platform that connects online consumers and businesses to carbon markets; and Sierra Leone’s Women in Energy, which empowers women, girls and youth to manufacture smart green stoves and green briquettes from recycled agricultural waste, are also selected.
From August through September 2023, the selected startups will participate in online capacity-development workshops. The curriculum is focused on helping them develop the networks and tools they need to scale their businesses and better support entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa.
All startups that apply to the programme will be invited to join Abaca, Village Capital’s online global network. Accelerators, incubators, and organisations providing support to entrepreneurs use the platform Abaca to measure, track, and analyse startups’ progress, even at the earliest and most intangible stages.
