Catalyst Fund, a global inclusive tech accelerator managed by BFA Global, announced today that FSD Africa has committed $3.5M to establish the Fund’s footprint in Africa and scale its work as the leading accelerator and pre-seed impact fund for developing market entrepreneurs.
Catalyst Fund will invest in and provide venture building support to high-impact firms that increase the resilience of marginalised and climate-vulnerable populations, with the goal of supporting 40 pre-seed impact enterprises in Africa.
In addition, the accelerator will continue to establish robust innovation ecosystems by activating investors, capacity-building networks, and corporate innovators to unlock cash, recruit talent, and share information about fintech solutions that are suited to the requirements of specific communities.
Juliet Munro, Director, Digital Economy at FSD Africa said: “At FSD Africa, we believe that a strong, fair and accessible financial system is crucial to a sustainable future for Africa’s people and its environment. In particular, we believe that finance can play a major role in tackling climate-vulnerability and that by harnessing the power of fintech innovation we can help address market barriers to building out much needed climate resilience solutions. Our partnership with Catalyst Fund will spur innovation by investing in and supporting entrepreneurs while at the same time helping to influence and expand the pool of investment into this space.”
Read also Hope Rises as African Tech Startup Funding Passes $2bn Mark
Maelis Carraro, Managing Partner of Catalyst Fund, said: “We are thrilled to welcome FSD Africa as an anchor investor of Catalyst Fund to enable our next phase of growth. The challenge of climate adaptation is central to our core mandate of accelerating innovation that improves the resilience and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable communities, particularly women.
As a woman-led fund, we are particularly proud to share that at least 40% of the founders in our portfolio will be women and at least 80% local to their country of operation. We seek to both transform the lives of vulnerable households and businesses, but also to accelerate the overall innovation ecosystem.”
“We will continue to pair our investment with bespoke venture building support from our team of operators and technical specialists, as well as make connections to the 100+ global investors in our community and to our network of founders in emerging markets”, continued Carraro. “Our venture builders are the engineers, data scientists and growth marketing experts that early-stage ventures don’t have access to, who can supercharge their journeys toward building high quality, inclusive products, faster and with less strain on their runway”.
Read also Persistent Energy Capital Raises $10M To Expand Its Off-grid Energy Business In Africa
Catalyst Fund has supported 61 firms in emerging markets to date, which have collectively secured over $573 million in follow-on funding and touched over 13.2 million low-income customers.
The subsequent cohort of startups will showcase financial solutions that strengthen the resilience of marginalised and climate-vulnerable developing market populations.
These may include fintech and insurtech solutions, agtech, carbon financing, water management, and other essential sectors for resilience building and climate adaption.
How to apply:
Startups can apply by visiting here or reaching out to a member of the Catalyst Fund team.
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