Early-stage investment and training venture, Village Capital, has announced two winners of its three-month fintech for agriculture accelerator programme.
The winners, Farmline and Atikus Insurance, will each walk away with a $50, 000 investment prize, according to a report by Disrupt Africa.
Village Capital began accepting applications for the programe in January and began the accelerator progam in April with five startups; Chamasoft, Ensibuuko, Atikus Insurance, FarmDrive, Farmerline, MShamba and Namibia-based Mobipay.
One of the winners, Farmline, is a Ghanaian startup that provides agricultural information to farmers and according to the report in Disrupt Africa, is expanding to East Africa.
The second winner, Rwandan-based Atikus Insurance, extends access to credit by increasing the capacity of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) lenders through reimagined insurance and technology solutions.
“We are excited about the positive impact that our entrepreneurs can have on improving the income of smallholder farmers–the backbone of the African economy–and eager to see our enterprises’ growth through communities across the continent.” said Ross Baird, executive director of Village Capital in the report.
Village Capital is a non-profit organization that finds, trains, and funds early-stage ventures solving major global problems in agriculture, education, energy, financial inclusion (fintech), and health.
Photo Credit: Lufa Farms via Compfight cc
