Village Capital initiative backs Catalyst Fund, Ennovate Ventures, others
Village Capital has selected five ecosystem builders to continue in the next phase of its Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Africa programme.
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Village Capital has announced the selection of five ecosystem builders to continue in the next phase of its Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Africa programme. Backed by The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, this initiative focuses on scaling the impact of entrepreneur support organisations (ESO) across sub-Saharan Africa.
Building on the first phase, which supported 14 ecosystem builders across five countries, the 2025 phase will empower them to run investment-readiness programmes and channel direct capital to 30 climate-focused startups driving impactful solutions.
“We are committed to reimagining capital deployment and building a more connected ecosystem where ESOs play a pivotal role in driving entrepreneurship and facilitating access to capital,” said Susan Nakami, Africa lead at Village Capital. “Each organisation will receive up to $260,000 to support their work, including strengthening their team capacity, organising workshops for climate-focused ventures, and providing regrants to startups in their local markets. We are proud to walk alongside these organisations every step of the way, co-designing tailored accelerator programmes for startups in their markets and empowering them to deliver scalable solutions to climate challenges.”
The selected ecosystem builders are:
* Catalyst Fund (Nairobi, Kenya) runs a pre-seed fund and accelerator investing in tech startups that offer climate adaptation solutions to enhance the resilience of communities in Africa.
* Reach for Change Foundation (Accra, Ghana) is a social enterprise supporting local social entrepreneurs to drive sustainable green initiatives and innovate in edtech to benefit women, youth, and children.
* Ennovate Ventures (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) is a venture factory supporting early-stage, innovative businesses that aim to enhance prosperity and job creation in Africa.
* Emerge Livelihoods (Mzuzu, Malawi), formerly known as Mzuzu E-Hub, fosters a thriving ecosystem in Malawi and beyond so that individuals and communities become self-reliant through an impact hub.
* IdeiaLab (Maputo, Mozambique) has a robust, evidence-based entrepreneurship development methodology and a 14-year track record of developing and enabling entrepreneurial potential.
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