SA Innovation Summit and Anza Capital have launched the Foodtech Programme in pursuit of foodtech startups.
The price of food staples such as sunflower oil and cereals has skyrocketed, contributing to the global rise in inflation. This comes amid mounting concerns about food security and scarcity.
According to a release, the Foodtech Programme seeks to discover and support small, rapidly expanding enterprises and start-ups that are developing solutions for the food value chain.
Read also Kenya-based Cleantech Startup Solar Panda Raises $8M In Series A Funding
In addition, it will give a platform for seed to series A start-ups that are reshaping the food value chain landscape in South Africa to acquire visibility, scale, and become successful businesses, while maintaining a sustainable food supply for communities.
It claims that the shortlisted startups will have the opportunity to receive R7 million in financing, participate in the SA Innovation Summit in Cape Town from September 27 to September 29, and present at the WIE Innovation Awards 2023 in Davos, Switzerland.
“The SA Innovation Summit believes that African entrepreneurs build the continent and, as an innovation platform, we exist to connect them to resources that support them to achieve this. Our proud partnership with Anza Capital [seeks] to address one of the biggest questions for the Africa rising narrative. Which is: How can it be that a meal at an inexpensive restaurant in Zambia costs seven times more than the same in the United Kingdom when accounting for GDP per capita? We believe that talented and innovative foodtech start-ups will contribute to raising accessibility for food security,” Says Buntu Majaja, CEO of the SA Innovation Summit said.
Read also Nigerian B2B Marketplace Betastore Raises $2.5M To Help Informal Businesses With Stock-Outs, Funding
“Close to 20% of the world population lives in Africa, and yet Africa only accounts for less than 2% of the global agri-foodtech investment in 2021, according to agfunder.com, leading to missed untapped opportunities by lack of early-stage seed capital. Anza Capital, collaborating with the SA Innovation Summit, aims to provide foodtech innovative entrepreneurial ventures with access to growth capital that can help them take off,” Van-Lee Gunyere, head of investments at Anza Capital, added.
The application deadline is July 24. Click here to enter the Foodtech Programme.
Alternately, interested startups may send an email: competitions@innovationsummit.co.za for more information.
Anza Capital Fund Foodtech Anza Capital Fund Foodtech
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh