Sand-to-Green, a Moroccan startup, has just raised funds from multiple investors to deploy its solutions around the kingdom. This $1 million seed funding also signals the participation of different Business Angels and two VC funds, specifically the Norwegian Katapult and the pre-seed fund Catalyst, into the Sand to Green capital.

After three years of research and development, the business hopes to be able to deploy its plantation model in an arid climate in Morocco.

The two funds intend to expedite Sand to Green’s operational development in order to prepare for the large-scale deployment of its Moroccan and African projects. According to Benjamin Rombaut, CEO of Sand to Green, the goal of this funding is to reaffirm Sand to Green’s operational and execution skills while preparing for the next stage, which is the deployment of hundreds of hectares of plantations in dry zones.

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To achieve this, he says, “we must intensify the work of acculturation to this cause, which has many advantages: growing in the desert captures carbon, fertilises the soil, creates habitats for biodiversity, fights against deforestation, stabilises local communities, everything by being one of the only large-scale ecological options to meet the immense food challenges that lie ahead.”

The plan put forth by Sand to Green, in the opinion of Maxime Bayen, Head of Venture Building and Lead Venture Partner at Catalyst Fund, is not only ambitious but also highly innovative in its agricultural and technological approach. 

“We are confident that this kind of solution can help Morocco and Africa make a genuine shift to large-scale, sustainable, healthy, and sober agriculture. Catalyst Fund’s goal is to fund and support innovative entrepreneurs in Africa that are working to adapt to climate change,” he states. 

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Recall that the April 2022 Sand to Green initiative intends to green deserts through agroforestry and saltwater desalination.

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