Tech in Africa
Zimbabwean agritech startup, Farmhut just secured a US$100,000 worth of grant funding after being from this year’s annual Hult Prize competition.
As an AI-powered marketplace, Farmhut platform links farmers to markets helping them earn the best prices for their produce. The startup made a good impression at the Hult Prize 2021 alongside 10 other startups. Farmhut earned US$100,000 grant capital, vital for expanding its user base and product offering. The company recently launched a WhatsApp-based chatbot service to address connectivity challenges among Zimbabwean farmers.
Farmhut started in 2018 winning a number of innovative competitions regionally and internationally. This prize is just one among the many awards in their collection. Today, more than ever, Zimbabwean youths are showing more interest than ever in agriculture.
The Hultz Prize
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus regards the Hultz Prize as the “Nobel for students”. As a leader in impact education, the programme has trained and graduated over 2 million alumni from 121 countries. The annual accelerator programme selects startups run by university students and helps put the right systems in place. FarmHut featured as part of the 2020 cohort. Only a few of their featured startups receive seed funding which is in form of early-stage investment into research and business development.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, FarmHut’s co-founder Ryan Katayi gave more details on their win. After receiving training and refining on their business model, FarmHut was shortlisted as one among 33 entities. Out of that number, only 11 received seed funding.
