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MSME Call for Submissions- Agribusiness Deal Room 2024
The Dealroom is a matchmaking platform under the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFS- Forum) which provides to companies in the agri-food and agribusiness sectors with access to finance, mentorship, and market entry solutions to support their growth objectives. The Dealroom brings together SMEs and potential investors from different countries, providing the SMEs with a platform to create awareness of their products and businesses and identify potential investors that can help them develop, scale up their businesses. It will achieve these through a combination of project preparation, pipeline development, project bankability, investment promotion, and enabling policy environment. The AFS Forum is looking for innovative MSMEs that promote food systems transformation in Africa. The AFS Forums is inviting MSMEs and companies to submit their applications by the deadline.
Business selection criteria
Qualification Criteria
- Sector: Agribusinesses with a clear link to smallholder farmers. This could include, but is not limited to, companies involved in the provision of inputs, primary production, enabling (e.g., agriculture logistics, aggregation platforms, irrigation, cold storage, financial services), value addition, digital platforms, market access, nutrition, post-harvest management, renewable energy etc.
- Country: The enterprise must be directly active within the African continent or be planning to expand into the region in the next 12-18 months.
- Stage of business: Post-revenue/proof of concept with a product in the market and an existing customer base. The enterprise must have plans to scale operations in the next 12-24 months. Enterprises must have a clear business model and must also be looking for financing (e.g., debt, equity financing, etc.)
- Ticket size:
- Investment under 100,000 USD
- 100,000 USD to 500,000 USD,
- 500,000 USD to 1 million USD
- Above 1 million USD
- Financial instruments such as loan, grant, equity, guarantee, reimbursable grant …
- Innovation in agri-food systems: The proposal should demonstrate innovation, impact, and scalability it can brings to address low production, digital gap, environment and climate challenges, nutrition challenges.
Other Criteria to be Considered
- Youth development: Does the enterprise support youth development and employment opportunities?
- Gender inclusion: Is the enterprise female-owned and/or managed? How does the project promote gender inclusion and employment?
- Environmental impact: Does the enterprise promote a healthy agricultural landscape?
- Climate impact: Does the enterprise contribute to reducing GHG emissions and safeguarding our planet.
- Smallholder impact: How does the enterprise promote sustainably improved production systems, increased food security, diversified economic opportunities, effective financial services, and social protection systems for smallholders?
- Collaboration: Does the enterprise have potential or existing collaboration partnerships with the private sector or NGO partners?
- Inclusive growth: Does the enterprise enhance inclusive growth through community buy-in/engagement?
- Technology acquisition: Does the enterprise propel the acquisition and transfer of technology to the region?
- Opportunities for follow-on financing and replication: How will the enterprise use its investment, and are there opportunities for additional funding?
Application Requirements
If you meet the above criteria, please click the tab above to download the profile submission template. Given the limited number of slots available, applications will be on a first-come, first-served basis and only SMEs that submit fully completed profiles will be considered for participation. Once you have completed your profile using the excel template provided, please email it to dealroom@agra.org for consideration.
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AGRA Value Proposition
Access to AGRA’s virtual agribusiness Dealroom will provide the following benefits:
- Allow businesses to network with investors in the agriculture ecosystem in Africa.
- Provide links to webinars and resources to support companies in the fundraising process.
- Enable businesses to connect, explore partnership opportunities, and share learnings with other businesses across the continent.
- Connect with anchor buyers (e.g., beverage companies, aggregators, etc.) and explore sourcing opportunities.
- Provide an opportunity for businesses to connect and virtually engage with ag ecosystem stakeholders and government stakeholders.
- After the AFS, businesses will be provided with follow-on monitoring and could potentially benefit from business advisory support.
Please submit any questions you may have to dealroom@agra.org for consideration. Please note that all participants in the Deal Room are required to register for the AFS Forum 2024. Details on registration will be updated on https://agrf.org/summit/2024/