Hi everyone, last week, our local startup scene sizzled with funding, policy changes, and a major global recognition. Let’s dive in!
Funding
- Accra-based agritech startup, Wami Agro, has secured additional funding from Mirepa Capital. The investment will enable Wami Agro to scale its operations and further empower smallholder farmers. Founded by Caleb Edwards and Jonah Tuokpier, the company leverages technology to solve the challenges faced by smallholder farmers by providing agriculture input credit and access to markets.
- Cadana secured $7.1million in seed funding to streamline payroll for talent marketplace and HR providers and enable them to pay workers from emerging markets. Founded by Albert Owusu-Asare and Ameer Shujjah, the company provides white label products and APIs that cover payments, compliance, understanding local labour laws and fraud control, allowing its clients to create custom tools.
- The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is raising a $20 million Science for Impact Fund to support groundbreaking research and innovation. The endowment fund is expected to bridge the funding gap which is mostly provided by donors and government. The fund will identify and support high-impact research projects and technological innovations that have the potential to drive industrial growth.
- 10k2startup launched to invest and accelerate African startups. Led by Julius Nkansah Owusu-Kyerematen, the head of Multichannel, Mid-Market Sales at Google, the investment vehicle will invest up to $50,000 in ambitious teams chasing game-changing ideas.
Policy
- The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched its long-awaited guidelines for equity-based crowdfunding. The guidelines outline regulations for various aspects of crowdfunding, including the process of applying for a crowdfunding intermediary licence, the responsibilities of such intermediaries, the involvement of crowdfunding participants, transaction-related requirements, obligations for issuers, activity restrictions, and additional criteria for soft commodities digital investment platforms.
- The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation has launched an innovation voucher scheme as part of its measures to promote the commercialization of research and strengthen collaboration between research institutions and businesses. The scheme will provide grants of up to $5,000 or more (depending on the project’s market viability analysis) to qualifying small and medium enterprises and startups for knowledge transfer projects from universities and research institutions in Ghana.
Global Milestone
- Jetstream, the logistics and mobility startup, has joined the World Economic Forum’s exclusive 100 Technology Pioneers community. The Technology Pioneer community is composed of early-stage start-ups from around the world involved in the development and deployment of new technologies and innovations. Members of the community are invited to attend global meetings, workshops and events hosted by the WEF as well as tailored gatherings for the Innovator Community members.
That’s it for this week’s roundup! Stay tuned for more exciting developments in the ever-evolving Ghanaian startup scene.
Until next time,
The GIJ Team
