With a focus on sustainable agriculture and climate-smart solutions as drivers of economic development, Katapult Africa has designed initiatives to accelerate startups across the continent. Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and its young, tech-savvy population, combined with a growing need for climate resilience, positions it to lead in sustainable innovation. These opportunities are essential for addressing some of the continent’s most pressing challenges, from resource scarcity to the effects of climate change, while supporting long-term, inclusive growth.
Program Overview
• Program Goal: To support climate tech startups in reaching key milestones in growth, investor readiness, and impact management.
• Duration: A three-month intensive program.
• Core Benefits: Participants take part in intensive workshops and learning sessions while gaining access to a broad network of key stakeholders, including investors and industry experts. The program equips founders with the tools, knowledge, and connections needed to scale their impact across the continent.
Investment Focus
• Precision Agriculture
• Waste Management
• Clean Energy
• Clean Mobility
• Climate Fintech
• Carbon Monitoring
• Carbon Reduction
Ideal Candidate Profile
• Stage: Early-stage, impact-driven climate tech startups.
• Location: Operating in Africa.
• Team: Led by experienced teams.
• Traction: Demonstrating a clear path to commercialization or generating early revenue.
• Model: Built on scalable business models.
Key Initiatives and Research
• The Climate Impact Compass: A framework developed by Katapult Africa in collaboration with Norrsken and The Risa Fund to help align impact reporting for early-stage climate tech startups across Africa.
• Evolution of Investment in Food and Climate Tech in Africa: Research produced by Katapult Africa analyzing the historical trends shaping the food tech and climate tech sectors across the continent.
Portfolio Companies
• Afrikamart: Builds a B2B marketplace for smallholder farmers and food businesses.
• Aquarech: Innovates in aquaculture to improve fish farmers’ livelihoods across Kenya and strengthen the fish value chain.
• Complete Farmer: Connects farmers with global food buyers, helping them gain a competitive advantage.
• Crop2Cash: Digitalizes the food crop value chain with tools that help agro-processors manage supplier relationships.
• Elucid: Advances human rights in global supply chains by improving producers’ health and livelihoods.
• Figorr: Helps businesses reduce the loss of perishables through real-time asset monitoring.
• GrowAgric: Provides small-scale farmers with training, financing, digital tools, and market access through an end-to-end solution.
• HerVest: Offers an inclusive fintech platform that provides savings, impact investments, and credit financing for women farmers and entrepreneurs.
• Legendary Foods: Delivers the nutrition of meat with the sustainability of plants through insect agriculture.
• MooMe: Provides software and hardware to monitor dairy farming production across the value chain.
• OKO Finance: Uses data to provide affordable insurance to farmers in emerging markets with instant claims settlement.
• Rural Farmers Hub: Provides agricultural services, with its core product, Capture™, using big data to generate farming insights.
• Sand To Green: Transforms desert into arable land through regenerative agriculture and solar desalination.
• Sensegrass: Offers end-to-end farming solutions based on nanosatellite mapping, rover bots, and an AI-powered application.
• Spark: Provides a social finance app for chat and transactions, group finance management, and organized financial records.
• Vetsark: Helps farmers and agribusinesses digitalize their data to improve access to bank financing.
Leadership Team
• Beniamino Bruno: Brings 8 years of experience as an angel investor, M&A specialist, and C-suite operator in venture-backed African startups.
• Paulina Jaeck: Oversees budgeting, cash flow, reporting, and financial and legal operations, with more than 10 years of experience across multiple industries.
• Philip Gasaatura: A founder, angel investor, and venture builder who helped structure Rwanda’s government-backed VC fund after 12 years in UK investment banking.
• Tharald Nikolai Nustad: A serial entrepreneur and impact investor with investments in 120 tech companies across 40 countries.
• Yann Vaudin: Manages deal flow from sourcing and screening to investment committee preparation, with a background in climate-focused venture investing in emerging markets.
By supporting a new generation of climate-focused entrepreneurs, this program plays an important role in building a more resilient and sustainable future for Africa. It highlights the strong potential of African innovators to create scalable solutions that address both local and global environmental challenges while advancing growth and positive impact.