Do you have an idea or innovation tackling big problems affecting East Africa's financially underserved? An innovation looking to improve access to payments, financial security, accounting, cash management, credit, loans, cash advances, or other financial services for smallholder farmers or agribusinesses? Village Capital is the kind of accelerator environment you might be in search for.

In partnership with The MasterCard Foundation and Duncan Goldie-Scot, Village Capital is looking to connect the best early-stage entrepreneurs to real customer needs across the world, and smallholder farmers in East Africa that need access to quality financial services.

The program will select 12 start-up firms for business development training. The aim is to unlock innovations that increase access to financial services for smallholder farmers. At the end of the program, the two start-ups ranked highest by other entrepreneurs in the program will each receive $50,000 USD to help scale their businesses and impact.

The initial 12 enterprises will be chosen on the basis of how their ideas can increase incomes for smallholder farmers by improving their access to financial services. Typically, smallholder farmers in East Africa cannot participate in the mainstream economy because they lack access to financial services as a result of their location, their lack of financial literacy, and other barriers.

Village Capital FinTech for Agriculture: East Africa 2015 plans to meet this need by supporting the best local early-stage ventures increasing financial inclusion in the East African agriculture industry, benefitting smallholder farmers, investors, communities, and entrepreneurs in the region.

Village Capital will provide selected ventures with intensive business development training, mentorship from local business leaders and investors, and face-to-face interaction with potential customers.

The best submissions will be:

  • Innovations that improve access to payments, financial security, accounting, cash management, credit, loans, cash advances, or other financial services for smallholder farmers or agribusinesses;
  • First-to-market innovations in the agricultural sector;
  • Technologies that formalize informal markets, increase the efficiency of the agricultural supply chain, improve business that serve smallholder farmers, and/or build wealth for smallholder farmers, low-wealth households, or individuals;

Submissions for the programme will be open until the 25th of February