Pitch AgriHack 2023 Competition for agriculture young entrepreneurs 18 to 40 years

Finance June 3, 2023

0 3 minutes read

These innovations should be scalable and generate measurable impact in Africa’s food systems. Winners will receive funding and continued support to scale up their innovations to transform the agriculture sector.

Pitch AgriHack 2023 Competition for agriculture young entrepreneurs 18 to 40 years

Pitch AgriHack supports technological innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture across Africa. It targets young entrepreneurs 18 to 40 years. The Pitch AgriHack competition is sponsored by Heifer International and managed by Generation Africa, a thematic platform of The AGRF. The competition will identify and amplify efforts by young innovators to build resilience beyond COVID-19 through digital agriculture products and services. These innovations should be scalable and generate measurable impact in Africa’s food systems. Winners will receive funding and continued support to scale up their innovations to transform the agriculture sector.

The competition will identify and amplify efforts by young innovators to build resilience beyond COVID-19 through digital agriculture products and services. These innovations should be scalable and generate measurable impact in Africa’s food systems. Winners will receive funding and continued support to scale up their innovations to transform the agriculture sector.

Unleash Your Innovation with Pitch AgriHack

We want Africa’s brightest young minds to present their solutions to the world. Our young agritech entrepreneurs have the potential to revolutionize the way we address food security challenges and empower smallholder farmers across the continent.

Pitch AgriHack offers a platform for these visionary minds to present their technological solutions in order to transform the continent’s agricultural landscape. With a total prize money of US$45,000, Pitch AgriHack 2023 will reward the most promising ventures that address key challenges and promote sustainable agricultural development.

The competition awards winners in three categories:

Early-stage agritech ventures
Mature or growth-stage agritech ventures
Women-led agritech ventures

Three winners and three runners-up will be selected, with each winner receiving a cash prize of US$10,000 and each runner-up receiving US$5,000. The competition is open to African founders or co-founders, aged 18-40, with businesses providing agritech solutions and digital services in the agriculture sector.

To participate in Pitch AgriHack 2023:

Review the eligibility criteria below.
Join the GoGettaz Community.
Click Apply below.
Submit your application before 3 July 2023.

A rigorous selection process will be conducted by expert reviewers who will evaluate the submissions based on their innovativeness, feasibility, and potential for impact. Finalists will pitch their agritech solutions to an esteemed panel of judges on stage, at a live finale event at the African Food Systems Forum (AFSF) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in September. The winners of Pitch AgriHack 2023 will also be awarded at the AFSF.

The AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room, attended by over 800 companies, 15 government delegations, and 150 public and private investors, will generate exciting new opportunities for these entrepreneurs to secure investments, partnerships, and mentorship.

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates are early-, mature- or growth-stage, or women-led technology or digital services companies with innovative solutions impacting smallholder farmers at scale.

Applicants should have:

A clear and defined description on how their solution is impacting smallholder farmers.
Strong organizational and operational structure.

The applicant applying must:

Be aged 18-40 on the day of submission to the 2023 Pitch AgriHack Competition.
Hold nationality (with official ID) from any of the 54 nations of the African Union.
Be the founder/co-founder of the enterprise represented in the competition and play an active role in its operations and leadership.
Have no criminal record related to corruption, tax evasion, financial impropriety, felony or
other offenses.
Not be a previous Pitch AgriHack or GoGettaz finalist or winner.
Submit the application form in English.
Agree with the Terms & Conditions.

Early-stage category, venture must have:

The ability to scale and impact a large number of smallholder farmers.
An identifiable technological innovation that addresses the following problems for smallholder farmers:
- Smallholder farmer productivity
- Smallholder farmer income
- Labor intensiveness of operations
- Resilience
- Access to information for smallholder farmers
- Strong competitive advantage

Growth-stage category, venture must have:

The ability to scale and impact a large number of smallholder farmers.
Recorded evidence of demonstrated impact on smallholder farmers’ revenue.
An identifiable technological innovation that addresses the following problems for smallholder farmers:
- Smallholder farmer productivity
- Smallholder farmer income
- Labor intensiveness of operations
- Resilience
- Access to information for smallholder farmers
- Strong competitive advantage

Selection criteria

There will be a screening process to determine the top 12 start-ups, which will be invited to attend a pitch training session. Half of the selected start-ups will be women-owned start-ups (one official co-founder must be female). The selection is mainly based on the quality of the information submitted in the application. Additional information may be requested by the organizers.

Online screening criteria

How real is the need?
What problem does the solution solve?
How unique is the solution?
Does the team demonstrate an ability to execute?
What is the market opportunity?

Technical assessment criteria

Early-Stage Category:
- Scalability
- Feasibility/Proof of concept
- Technical viability of the solution
Mature-Stage Category:
- Smallholder farmers reached
- Profitability