Above: The CTA’s Annual Report for 2015
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the support of partners including the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI) and mLab East Africa, is launching the pilot edition of Pitch AgriHack, a new component of its AgriHack Talent Programme.
Pitch AgriHack 2016 is open for young ICT start-ups from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, offering services to the agriculture sector. The entrepreneurs should be owners of an already developed e-agriculture/ICT4Ag application or platform.
Pitch AgriHack will:
- provide a business training boot camp to selected start-ups
- conduct a pitching competition
- offer grants and facilitate access to investments, additional capacity building and promotional opportunities.
Two categories are available:
- Early stage platform
This is for e-agriculture applications and platforms that have already been developed but still need software or business model improvements. Participants must be able to demonstrate the business potential and functional features of their applications or platforms.
- Advanced platform
This category is for e-agriculture applications and platforms that are already in operation and generating revenues.
Benefits
Winning teams will receive from CTA a cash prize of up to €15,000, as well as promotional support, additional capacity building and networking opportunities. They may also benefit from investments from supporters of Pitch AgriHack.
Application process
Start-ups will provide details on problems addressed, the technical solution proposed, key metrics, customer segments targeted, unique value proposition compared with the competition, cost structure, revenue streams and other business strategy inputs. They will also demonstrate that they are incorporated or are already about to close this process. Starts-ups may register directly or be nominated to enter Pitch AgriHack.
Selection process
Applications will be screened by teams of business experts and investors.
Key Dates
- Launch of registration and nomination: check Get Involved
- Deadline for registration and nomination: 25 September 2016
- Announcement of selected finalist start-ups which will take part in the boot camp and pitching physical event: Week of 22 October 2016
- Boot camp and pitching events: 22 to 24 November 2016 in Kenya
About Pitch AgriHack
Pitch AgriHack is an ambitious four year project that complements CTA’s activities on ICT for agriculture. These include hackathons organised within the framework of the AgriHack Talent initiative; Apps4Ag learning opportunities; Plug and Play events; and other support to ICT4Ag projects. It complements and expand the on-ongoing AgriHack Talent programme, which supports youth ICT innovations and entrepreneurship in agriculture.
The ultimate objective is to contribute to the transformation of the agricultural sector and promotion of youth employment. It is expected that, after mobilisation of additional resources and the full launch of the programme, about 500 e-agriculture start-ups would have been supported, with effective services to farmers and agricultural stakeholders delivered in many ACP countries by the end of the programme. It will be implemented in collaboration with key national and international institutions, multinational private sector bodies, investors, incubators and accelerators.
