CATAL1.5°T West Africa welcomes its first climate ventures
Redesigning solutions for maximum climate impact and defining markets
The Phase I of the Pre-Acceleration program of the CATAL1.5°T initiative in West Africa region is designed to enable innovative climate ventures to validate their problem-solution fit, define their climate impact hypothesis and test their prototype assumptions.
Opened in September 2024, the first call for applications of the Pre-Acceleration program received submission from around two hundreds ventures from Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, and Niger. Following a rigorous two-month selection process of eligibility check, screening, and interview, 40 groundbreaking climate-focused ventures have been chosen to participate in the initial phase of the program.
Here are the 40 selected climate ventures for the first cohort:
In the Energy Access & Power Generation Ventures Category, meet:
- Production de Charbon Bio from Niger
- Yele Diima, Sank Green Energy, Emergen-Ce Group, “Soleil Accessible Pour Tous" Eclairage et Autonomie Energétique, and Climatox from Burkina Faso
- Etudes Realisation Developpement (ER DEV) and Projet de Gestion Intégrée des Déchets Avicoles (PGIDA) from Senegal
- Siana from Côte d’Ivoire
- Be Créateur de Trafics, Solar Energy For Sustainability, Agro-Tech-P, Flamme Écologique, and Green-Coal from Benin
In the Buildings, Cities, Industries and Appliances Ventures Category, meet
- Bouniane, Zero Waste, and Tire Recycle from Mauritania
- IPREN Group, Amet Recyclage, and MGC_SIG Consulting from Niger
- Duaneko from Togo; Power Green Ivory and Cool Roofs CI from Côte d’Ivoire
- CIKART-BENIN from Benin
- Sotic BTP, Gangan Multi-Services and ML Business et Services from Guinea
In Forestry & Land Use Ventures Category meet:
- Green business and Fertil lands from Niger
- Ferme Piscicole from Mauritania
- Africa Ecoworld from Togo
- Ferme-école d'Agriculture Intégrée from Burkina Faso
- Terra Casa and Push'Agri Farm from Senegal
- Ajlus and Cartoma from Côte d’Ivoire
In Low-Emission Transport Ventures Category meet:
- Freshyx App from Togo
- Proxy Emobility from Senegal
- GLS Africa and Infinx Mobility from Côte d’Ivoire
This program is designed to equip these climate ventures with the tools and insights needed to refine their solutions for maximum impact. Participants will delve deeply into validating the alignment between their identified problems and proposed solutions, ensuring they address genuine climate challenges. Additionally, the program emphasizes formulating and articulating a clear climate impact hypothesis, a critical step in measuring and amplifying their potential environmental benefits.
Through targeted support, these ventures will rigorously test the foundational assumptions behind their prototypes, paving the way for scalable and sustainable innovations in the region. This will be achieved through a 3-month training program conducted simultaneously in each country. The program focuses on key areas such as business development, climate, adaptation and resilience, gender and paradigm shift modules. Local implementers leading these efforts include Hadina Rimtic in Mauritania and Niger, Bond’Innov in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, TOogueda in Guinea and Benin, and Burkina Business Incubator – BBI in Burkina Faso and Togo.
After, the 3 months training, the 40 climate ventures will be turned down to 30 in a second selection process for the Phase II of the Pre-Acceleration program, bringing their prototypes to market and establishing their sale streams with a grand up to EUR15,000.
The next call for applications for the second cohort is planned for the second quarter of 2025, so subscribe to the newsletter and follow us on our social media to make sure you don't miss out on any opportunities.
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