The Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) and Mastercard Foundation have announced fifteen (15) emerging startup businesses in the agri-tech solutions space as the ultimate winners of the 2022 AgriTech Challenge Classic.
The fifteen selected teams out of the twenty shortlisted from a total of fifty will move to
the next stage of the competition.
Organized by the Kosmos Innovation Center in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, the AgriTech Challenge Classic is a seven-month programme that supports young students with innovative ideas in agri-tech, training, the right exposure to the agriculture value chain, and networking opportunity to build and grow viable solutions to Ghana’s key agricultural challenges.
The fifteen teams are AgroCold, Agyenkwah, Alpha Weeder, AgroEmpire, Green Grow, Dirty Gold, Kigo, Duckweeds Aduanepa, BES Veggie, KoduTech, Plant Aide, Biocul, Premium Coco and Witdeen.
The AgriTech Challenge Classic targets students and graduates from tertiary institutions
across the country, however smallholder farmers form a significant part of the indirect
beneficiaries of this KIC programme.
AgricTech Challenge Classic uses coaching and market research tours to encourage
participants to take a fresh look at the agriculture value chain and identify new areas with
potential business opportunities.
The Executive Director of KIC, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, said the programme is designed
to promote more efficient and sustainable agribusiness and support services through
technological solutions to farmers.
“The AgriTech Challenge Classic programme is expected to lead to increased trade, better incomes, and livelihood opportunities, for young people as well as smallholder farmers, while also encouraging youth participation
in the agric sector,” he said.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Gottfried Odamtten-Sowah, Programme Lead- Agribusiness
at Mastercard Foundation said that the Mastercard Foundation continues to empower
young people through its partnership with KIC to support innovative approaches that
create economic opportunities within the agricultural sector.
Through the KIC and the Mastercard Foundation partnership, the AgriTech Challenge
Classic expects to train about 4,880 young people across the partner universities in the
next four years, collaborating with regional academic partners such as universities and
technical schools.
During the first phase of the KIC AgriTech Challenge Classic programme, KIC worked
with five major public universities in five regions of the country to recruit participants in
their respective regions.
The universities include the University of Ghana, in Greater Accra, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, in the Upper West region, University of Cape Coast, in the Central region, the University for Development Studies, in the Northern region, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in the Ashanti region.
The next stage of the competition is the Agri Tech Challenge Pro, is an accelerator
program aiming to support young entrepreneurs to launch and grow commercially viable,
scalable solutions to key problems in the agricultural sector. The program aims to drive
technology and innovation as a catalyst to enhancing productivity, improving yields, and
creating more jobs within Ghana’s agricultural sector.
About KIC: The Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) invests in young entrepreneurs and
small businesses that have big ideas and want to see their country grow.
The KIC was established in Ghana in 2016 with programs focused on inspiring and empowering young entrepreneurs to drive change in their own country. Since its inception, the KIC has focused on innovation in agriculture – the country’s most important sector and largest employer.
More than 600 aspiring entrepreneurs have participated in KIC Ghana programs, resulting in the creation of promising start-ups that have gone on to secure seed funding, additional business training, and capital investment.
About Master Card Foundation and KIC Partnership: Mastercard Foundation and KIC
announced the launch of a multi-year partnership to train the next generation of young
leaders and entrepreneurs in Ghana’s agriculture sector in May 2022.
Other key aspects of the partnership include the AgriTech Challenge Classic, AgriTech Challenge Pro, Incubation – the KIC Incubation, Business Booster, and the Blue Skies Foundation School Farm Competition