Ugandan fintech startup Emata is one of 11 startups selected to be part of the prestigious accelerator program for Plug and Play; the world’s largest early-stage investor, accelerator, and corporate innovation platform with global headquarters in Silicon Valley, California, U.S.
The program will take place in Morocco in October and November 2021 —where the startups will go through workshops and mentoring to accelerate their growth. Emata just like the other 10 other startups will also gain access to Plug and Play’s network of corporations and venture capitalists.
Bram van den Bosch, CEO of Emata told PC Tech Magazine, “We are thrilled to join Plug and Play’s accelerator program because it means we can leverage the experience of Silicon Valley’s best and brightest to revolutionize farmer financing in Africa.” He further added, “Emata is disrupting the USD$240 billion (roughly UGX846 trillion) farmer financing opportunity in Africa by providing digital loans to farmers. Banks essentially do not lend to farmers, which means farmers do not have the capital to invest in their farms. We’re changing this.”
Lillian Nassanga Musoke, the Product Manager at Emata also told PC Tech Magazine that she believes that the program will be a great stepping stone for their product, helping them improve as they are scaling into new value-chains. She concluded by telling PC Tech Magazine that are very excited and awed to have the prestigious accelerator program for Plug and Play accept them for the opportunity.
The 11 startups excluding Emata selected for the Plug and Play accelerator program are; DeepEcho, I-Sense, Jobop, MintHR, Mouhimatech, Pega Health, Saweblia, Veenzen, Wafr, and Wattnow. The startups are from Morocco, Uganda, and Tunisia, —and operate in: Brand and Retail, Enterprise Tech, Fintech, Energy, Sustainability, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things (IoT), and Health.
Emata is a product of Laboremus — aims at bringing digital financial services to underbanked farmers across East Africa. It is a digital agricultural bank that allows farmers to use the power of loans to invest in the productivity of their farms. The bank provides farmers with affordable loans with favorable interest rates by utilizing end-to-end digital processes, data-backed risk analytics, and a mobile-based distribution model. Their solution allows farmers to manage their production daily and to streamline relations with a bank, up to the credit score, which ultimately allows them to have more access to credit.
