HIGHLIGHTS Seedstars is a Swiss-based group with the mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on the Sustainable Development Goals. It does this by: connecting stakeholders; building companies from scratch with public and private partners; and investing in high-growth ventures within these ecosystems. Seedstars aims to…
KEY FACTS Nithio’s financing platform uses AI to understand consumer credit risk for households in Africa, unlocking scalable investment in the off-grid solar sector and beyond. Its model also enables “precision financing” to match commercial sources of capital to the customers with high ability to pay and direct grant support to where it is needed…
With the support of Shell Foundation and the UK Government’s FCDO Agricultural Research arm through the CASEE programme, Factor[e] Ventures has been building a world-leading portfolio of impact ventures at the ag-energy nexus while simultaneously developing key insights to move innovation at this intersection forward. In 2019-20, Factor[e] developed a programme of demonstration projects with…
KEY FACTS Signed up over 250 white meat merchants as agents (butcheries and restaurants) during 2021 Signed off-taker agreements with four fisherfolk cooperatives with over 2000 fisherfolk Ranked in the top 20 African early stage Start-Ups by the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) Keep IT Cool provides affordable, reliable and efficient cold chain solutions to…
How can the direct impacts of biogas support the achievement of the SDGs? How does this impact vary between different market segments? A new report – commissioned by Shell Foundation with co-funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office – analyses the contribution of biogas towards SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)…
VentureBuilder has produced two learning papers outlining how they have continued to build an investment pipeline of locally owned and managed African off-grid operators, by refining its sourcing model and build operator resilience by adapting its business support offerings. Shell Foundation has supported VentureBuilder (VB) since 2019 with co-funding from USAID and…
A new consumer study from Nayo Tropical Technology Limited (NTT) shows the material impact of solar mini-grids in Nigeria on livelihoods, income and education. NTT currently owns and operates four solar mini-grids, and is expanding its portfolio with 14 new mini-grids under construction. Shell Foundation has supported NTT since 2019 with co-funding from UKAID, USAID…
As the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic continues to unfold, rural households are among those most impacted. This learning brief — commissioned by SF with co-funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office and the Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab (RAFLL) — examines actual impacts of Covid-19 on rural households in…
Shell Foundation recently partnered with Seedstars to look for sustainable, scalable and innovative start-ups addressing universal access to energy-related challenges, as well as sustainable agriculture, mobility and transportation. With co-funding from UKAID, we have launched the Energy, Mobility and Agriculture Innovation Program to find African tech entrepreneurs in the mobility, transportation, energy, and agriculture space…
CrossBoundary Energy Access (CBEA), the blended finance facility for mini-grids, has open sourced their approach to investing infrastructure capital across Africa. Shell Foundation supported the establishment of CBEA in 2018 alongside Rockefeller Foundation and with co-funding from UK Aid. CBEA invests blended capital directly into mini-grid projects serving rural African households and businesses. The business…