After an intense pitch session at the Meet the Farmers Conference grand finale, Nigerian Agritech Startup, SmartFarms has won the US$5,000 grand prize of Innov8Agric Challenge held on 4th and 5th of November at the “H” Hotel. The ‘Innov8Agric Challenge’ is part of the Meet The Farmers Conference, an Initiative of Crenov8, a Dubai based Consulting Company that promotes trade and agribusiness ties between Dubai and Africa. The Challenge is aimed at promoting innovative ideas for agritech start-ups from all sectors of the Agric ecosystem in Africa.
Qualitrace (Ghana), AgriQ & Automations (Kenya), Spiderbit (Rwanda) also pitched at the event with SmartFarm (Nigeria) emerging the winner. These four start-ups that pitched at the Grand Finale had all won the regional pitch competitions which was held in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria.
See Also: Meet the 4 AgriTech Start-ups Pitching at the MTFC’s Innov8agric Challenge in Dubai
SmartFarms provides commercial farming hub where busy professionals and beginning farmers can get access to land, modern farming facilities, professional management and market so they generate income from a passive investment which does not distract them from their regular jobs. This start-up provides a ‘co-working space’ for farming where mechanization, ICT tools, Irrigation facilities are accessible and affordable to maximize productivity.
The Startup jury panel at the pitch comprised of Sanjay Sethi, Director of Sustainability, Phoenix Group DMCC; Khaleel Summers, Co-Founder & MD, TK Consulting; Prof. Mohamed A. Badawi, General Manager, Emirates Bio Fertilizer Factory and Par Soderlund, Founder and CEO of Peritius Farm DMCC drilled the audience and combined their wealth of knowledge and experience to select the winner.
SmartFarms will also get an opportunity to get funding, and investment opportunities from African and GCC investors. The start-up was picked based on its innovation, originality, social and the viability of its ideas which was vetted by the judges.
MTFC is an initiative of Crenov8, a leading conglomerate consulting & Digital Media firm in the Middle East, Dubai, and Africa. Last year, Crenov8 embarked on this mission to create a platform where the African agricultural producers will meet with off takers in the Middle East and beyond, to translate business deals and network, collaborate, and form potential business partnerships across borders, to promote food security in the Middle East and promote agribusiness in Africa.
More Tech Stories:
- Smart Farms Wins Nigeria Innov8Agric Challenge, to Compete with Other Start-ups for $5,000
- Kenyan Agric-Tech Start-up, AgriQ & Automations Wins Kenya Innov8Agric Challenge
- Four Agri-Tech Start-up to Pitch At MTFC Nigeria
- Ghanaian Agric Startup, Qualitrace Wins Ghana Innov8Agric Challenge
- Spiderbit Wins Innov8Agric Challenge, Rwanda