The Kosmos Innovation Centre (KIC), has held the final pitch of the 2020 Cohort of the KIC AgriTech Challenge at its Business Incubation Hub in Accra.
The pitch, saw 10 agribusiness startups competing for the grand prize of $100,000 which will be split between the top two teams, as well as a year’s Incubation and mentoring at the KIC Hub.
A Senior Vice President and Head of Ghana Business Unit of the Kosmos Energy Ghana, Joe Mensah, said some of the start-ups that graduated from the programme have served and continue to serve thousands of Ghanaian farmers with innovative products.
He said Kosmos Energy has spent over five million dollars on KIC and its related activities since 2016 to date, pointing out that through the programme, KIC has raised and incubated over 16 start-ups in Ghana.
Mr. Mensah hinted that the Mastercard Foundation has shown interest to partner KIC to create more opportunities for African youth, hence encouraging young entrepreneurs to find innovative ways to sell their ideas.
The Director of the KIC, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, described this year’s Challenge as special, considering the inevitable organisational issues which the advent of the COVID-19 outbreak had on their plans.
Unlike in previous years where the teams were met frequently in order to fine-tune their ideas, they only had about three days’ worth of physical feedback sessions before the final pitch on Friday.
According to Gyan-Kesse, “There has been no decline, just good opportunity for learning that we’ve had, and for us as a programme, we know now how to blend an online and in-person programme.”
Mr Gyan-Kesse disclosed that about 300 people have been employed following the start of the KIC AgriTech Challenge in 2019.
He stated proudly that, “We are making inroads in terms of employment, in terms of impact on farmers and in terms of technology that is bringing efficiency into space.”
Team lead of Oasal, a startup that produces ethanol from locally sourced cashew apple juice, Amma Serwaa Frimpong, was emphatic about the positive effect that being a part of the AgriTech Challenge has had on her team.
In her estimation, “KIC has moved us from being an idea. We now have a product which is very viable and profitable in the long term.”
We are currently targeting about 1% of the market, with a production target of 32,000 litres per month.”
Team lead of Dairy Depot, a startup that processes and sells milk from local dairy farms for domestic consumption, Angela Appiah was hopeful that their milk products could break the dependence in foreign imported milk.
According to her, they are not just hoping to produce processed milk, but other milk-based products for the local market.
Other startups which participated in the pitch are Fruit flour, a manufacturer of fruit-based baby foods; Faakolore, an agro-logistics company offering post-harvest services and Farmasyst, which offers credit facilities to farmers.
Story By: Mabel Adorkor Annang
