10 African startups get $2m investment for accelerating the continent's adaptation to climate change

11 Jan 2023

Pre-seed venture capital (VC) fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund has announced a $2m (R34m) investment into 10 startups building solutions to improve the resilience of climate-vulnerable communities in Africa. This is the inaugural cohort of the new $30m VC fund of Catalyst Fund, anchored by financial sector development agency FSD Africa, aimed at supporting early-stage founders to develop technology that will make Africa more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

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Each of the 10 startups will be offered $100k of equity investments as well as $100k of hands-on venture-building support.

These companies will join Catalyst Fund’s existing portfolio of 61 startups across emerging markets and receive capital, bespoke and expert-led venture-building support, and direct connections with investors, corporate innovators and talent networks that can help them scale.

Catalyst Fund’s portfolio companies have raised over $640m in follow-on funding to date, and currently serve more than 14 million individuals and MSMEs globally.

The ten companies joining this next cohort of Catalyst Fund are Agro Supply, Assuraf, Bekia, Eight Medical, Farm to Feed, Farmz2U, Octavia Carbon, PaddyCover, Sand to Green, and Vais.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with ten groundbreaking African startups working to build a more resilient and sustainable future,” said Maelis Carraro, managing partner of Catalyst Fund. “

“Our goal is to back mission-driven founders that share our vision of a world where every individual has the tools and opportunities they need to thrive. From agritech to insurtech, waste management, disaster response, and carbon finance, these startups display finance, tech, and business model innovations that will help communities better adapt to climate impacts and grow their resilience.”