The African Development Bank’s AgriPitch Competition 2020 for Youth Agripreneur (US$120,000)

Application Deadline: Ongoing

The African Development Bank’s Youth Agripreneur AgriPitch Competition and DealRoom connects expansion-ready, youth-led African businesses with global investors (debt, equity and/or grant). The DealRoom focuses on youth-led agribusinesses under the themes of nutrition and gender inclusivity. The goal of the AgriPitch Competition and DealRoom is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture among youth in Africa and to generate jobs, create wealth and improve livelihoods through inclusive growth across the continent.

African companies that meet the criteria below are encouraged to submit their deal information for review by the Bank’s and Asoko Insight’s data teams. Qualified businesses will be promoted through the Asoko portal to global investors for matching. Interested investors can match with any deal by registering their profile and selecting target deals.

AgriPitch Competition

Shortlisted businesses will participate in a virtual AgriPitch Competition from November 16-20, 2020, where winners will be chosen based on different categories under consideration. The African Development Bank will award shortlisted businesses between US$10,000 and US$40,000 in the form of grant capital (US$120,000 in total is committed).

The African Development Bank is a leading multilateral development finance institution. The Bank has 81 member countries and is headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Further details regarding specific eligibility is found on the bottom of this page in the FAQ. Evaluation criteria for successful applications is also below.

Applicant Evaluation Criteria

All applicants should consider this criteria carefully as they build out their profile for submission. 

Value Proposition and Innovation Rationale (30% weighting):

• How creative is the idea or how creatively the idea solves a problem related to ICT and agri-digitization?
• Gender responsiveness
• Addresses nutrition
• Job creation potential
• Competitive edge

Sustainability and Scalability (20% weighting):

• Sound environmental management systems
• Potential for scaling-up
• Sufficient and qualified staff, including management

Business Feasibility & Traction (30% weighting):

• Clear customer pain/need intensity and market size
• Commercial and technical feasible with strong profit margins
• Existing traction and customers (for matured start-ups)

Professionalism and Presentation of Business (5% weighting):

• Structure and presentation of the business model
• Ease of comprehension of the business
• Strong writing/presentation skills

Investment Appeal (15% weighting):

• Investment pull based on respective early start-up, matured start-up, and all-star stage

Companies that are in one of following categories: Youth with early stage Start-ups, Mature Start-ups, and Women Empowered Businesses as per the African Development Bank criteria are eligible to apply for the AgriPitch Competition and Virtual Investor DealRoom

• Sector of focus: Agribusiness
• Company meets the criteria for a category:
  1. Start-ups: Must have a clearly defined prototype or proof of concept and may or may not have had any products introduced to the market.
  2. Matured Start-ups: firms with existing market traction: technology, product, service, etc., already on the market with a clear investment ask and growth plan & strategy.
  3. Women Empowered Businesses: In addition to the criteria for a mature start-up, firms must have at least 51% share of women ownership or founded by a woman.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the African Development Bank’s Youth Agripreneur AgriPitch Competition 2020