3 Ugandan Startups Selected For the Ashoka Social Investment Accelerator

Nathan Ernest Olupot September 13, 2018

1 minute read

National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises Limited (NUCAFE) is among the 12 ventures selected to participant in the Ashoka African Social Investment Accelerator. (Photo Courtesy: NUCAFE)

Three (3) of Ugandan startups; TruTrade, Nampya Farmer’s Market, and National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises Limited (NUCAFE) were among the twelve (12) startups from across Africa chosen for the first cohort of Ashoka Social Investment Accelerator, with Kenya and Uganda having the most selected startups.

The main aim of the Accelerator is to support social entrepreneurs by refining their business model and become investment ready, as well as support them to find the right hybrid corporate structure to access both investment and philanthropy efficiently.

The outcome at the end of the program is to produce a pitch deck, that you will be able to share with potential investors.

The three Ugandan startups alongside other finalists from; Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Egypt, and Ghana, participated in a two-day bootcamp from 10th – 11th September 2018 in South Africa during which the first 4/8 modules of the toolkit were addressed with all the social entrepreneurs, mentors, and experts. The first 4 modules were; Social change, Measuring impact, Business model, and Scaling strategy.

The finalists will then have an online mentoring program for the next 4 months from October 1st 2018 – 30th January 2019 which will approach the last 4 modules; Financial model, Legal structure, Financing terms, and Investment pitch. Each module will take a month and will include a webinar with, Ashoka Europe Director and Social Impact Investor; Mark Cheng.

Notably, Ashoka has pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship – finding, selecting and supporting some of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. The Ashoka network has over 3,000 Ashoka Fellows who are successfully implementing system-changing solutions to human and environmental problems in almost every area of need, in 85 countries.

About the Ugandan Finalists

TruTrade
TruTrade is a social enterprise providing smallholder farmers with a reliable route to market and fair prices for their produce through digitizing informal agricultural value chains, bringing transparency and transaction security to ‘first mile sourcing’.

Nampya Farmer’s Market
Nampya Farmer’s Market is a local mobile-based enterprise that offers a tech-enabled sourcing and distribution platform for agricultural produce to retail outlets, kiosks, and market stalls in urban centers.

NUCAFE
National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises Limited (NUCAFE) is a member-based organization and promoter of the farmer ownership model in the coffee value-chain development.