The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) and Norway-based accelerator Katapult have formed a partnership to support impact-tech startups in Africa.
TBI aims to equip political leaders and governments with the tools they need to create open, inclusive and prosperous societies in a globalised world, and has been working alongside the government of Rwanda since 2008.
Katapult, meanwhile, is an impact acceleration and investment company that already has 15 African companies in its portfolio, and is now entering the Rwandan market with an agri-tech accelerator in Kigali as the first part of its partnership with TBI.
The partnership aims to support the best impact tech entrepreneurs across Africa by strengthening the scaling ecosystem for startups and funnelling global and regional capital towards impact investments.
Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the project will support tech startups in Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa, as well as an investor network, through accelerator and investor training programmes.
“I am delighted that TBI is partnering with Katapult to support Rwanda’s agri-tech startups, and to build an investor network to help these businesses thrive and grow,” said TBI’s executive director for Africa Rishon Chimboza.
“Scalable businesses can play a vital role in Africa’s economic future, and given the right support, with public and private sectors working together, they can grow rapidly.”
Tharald Nustad, founder and owner of Katapult, said the aims of the project was to help create new jobs, drive economic development and provide capital for new and innovative solutions for food security in Rwanda and the wider region.
“The timing for scalable tech solutions is now, and with fast growing urbanisation, a tech savvy young population, we are ready to build the future of tech business from Rwanda,” he said.
“We both share the belief that building rapidly scalable businesses in collaboration with both public and private parties is one of the best ways to solve the grand challenges the world is facing.”
