The African Development Bank’s Youth Agripreneur AgriPitch Competition and DealRoom connect 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 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.
Applicant Evaluation Criteria
All applicants should consider these 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
