Africa's Pioneer Climate Tech Pre-Seed Fund and Accelerator Advances Efforts to Build a Climate-Resilient Future

Today the Catalyst Fund, a pioneering pre-seed venture capital fund and accelerator focused on driving climate resilience innovation in Africa, proudly announces the successful first closing with over 20% of its targeted US$40 million fund closed. This milestone signals its strong commitment to shaping a climate-resilient future through bolstering early-stage startups across the African continent.

The Catalyst Fund has garnered significant backing from esteemed investors including FSD Africa, FSDAi, Cisco Foundation, USAID Prosper Africa, and seasoned tech investor Andrew Bredenkamp. These visionary partners share the Fund's mission to enhance the reach and impact of pre-seed companies at the forefront of building a climate-resilient future in Africa. With support from JPMorgan Chase & Co and the Global Environmental Facility, Catalyst Fund also works to provide dedicated impact measurement and research support to climate innovators, share insights and learnings, and enable partnerships via its Ecosystem Hub. 

With a strategic focus on solutions in agtech and fishery management, food systems, insurtech and climate fintech, cold chain, waste management, and water management,  the Catalyst Fund is expediting sustainable green growth. It will focus on solutions that can enable communities to better prepare for and manage shocks, adapt livelihoods to climate impacts and build long-term resilience.

 ""At FSDAi we believe strongly that Africa has the potential to lead in climate solutions provided it has the finance it needs. Our mission is to support that by investing in innovative solutions that will help channel finance to under-resourced parts of the green economy. This collaboration with the Catalyst Fund, part of a package of investments totalling US$19.5m which we are announcing today, will do that by supporting entrepreneurs developing made-in-Africa climate-resilient solutions, so contributing both to Africa’s green economic growth and to global efforts to tackle the impact of climate change,” said Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer, FSDAi.

The Catalyst Fund will support 40 pre-seed startups, with a focus on backing mission-driven local and women founders, offering essential early-stage capital and pairing it with hands-on, tailor-made venture building support to accelerate startups’ growth. The Fund's commitment extends beyond the initial stage, as it pledges to provide follow-on capital to startups in their Seed and Series A rounds. By bridging this critical funding gap, the Catalyst Fund addresses a key bottleneck for climate ventures in Africa, positioning them for further growth-stage funding at Series B.

“By blending equity investments with hands-on venture building, we believe we can unlock tremendous potential for innovative companies on the continent. Supporting ventures at the pre-seed stage requires more than capital. Our venture builders are the engineers, data scientists and growth marketing experts who can supercharge founders’ journeys toward building scalable and highly impactful ventures,” said Maelis Carraro, Managing Partner of the Catalyst Fund.

This initial close marks the Catalyst Fund’s transition from a philanthropic startup accelerator to a venture capital fund, building on seven years of experience supporting startups on the continent. The first Catalyst Accelerator, backed by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, PayPal, and Mastercard Foundation, supported 61 startups across emerging markets; 70% on the African continent, including companies such as Wasoko, Chipper Cash, and Turaco.

“The Cisco Foundation respects the approach that Catalyst Fund is taking in bringing venture support, investment and attention to high-impact climate solutions in Africa, especially those that focus on adaptation to climate change in this critical region. We believe that the fund will also be pivotal in channeling both resources and growth for solutions that foster a stronger climate-resilient ecosystem in this market,” said Jocelyn Matyas, Climate Impact Portfolio Manager at Cisco Foundation.

The first close of the Catalyst Fund is a resounding testament to its commitment to driving climate innovation in Africa. With a robust network of strategic partners and a uniquely comprehensive approach to nurturing startups, the Catalyst Fund stands poised to usher in a new era of climate tech across the continent.

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About Catalyst Fund

Catalyst Fund is a pre-seed VC fund and accelerator backing tech entrepreneurs who are scaling solutions for a climate-resilient future in Africa. Our thesis focuses on supporting mission-driven, local and women founders offering climate adaptation solutions that improve the resilience of African climate-vulnerable communities. Catalyst Fund takes an active, hands-on venture-building approach that leverages its team’s vast experience as operators in emerging markets.

Catalyst Fund’s General Partner is BFA Global. Launched in 2016, our supporters to date included FSD Africa, FSDAi, Cisco Foundation, USAID Prosper Africa, the Global Environmental Facility, JPMorgan Chase & Co., the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCD), PayPal and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

About FSD Africa

FSD Africa is a UK International Development funded regional program that operates in over 30 countries to make finance work for Africa's future. Based in Nairobi, FSD Africa’s team of financial sector experts work alongside governments, business leaders,?regulators,?and policy makers to design and build ambitious?programmes?that make financial markets work better for everyone.?Established in 2012, FSD Africa is incorporated as a non-profit company limited by guarantee in Kenya.

About FSD Africa Investments

FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) is the investment arm of FSD Africa. FSDAi invests in novel financial instruments, facilities and intermediaries to support of policy objectives and accelerate the role of finance in Africa’s green economic growth. FSDAi, a private company with shareholders including FSD Africa and the UK's FCDO, employs diverse investment instruments while embracing considerable risk. FSDAi bridges funding gaps by supporting novel financial solutions for transformative change in Africa's financial markets to deliver better-quality jobs and economic opportunities, equitable access to basic services, reduction of human vulnerability and inequity, and environmental benefits.

For more information, visit https://fsdafrica.org/our-work/fsdai/.

About Prosper Africa

Prosper Africa is a Presidential-level national security initiative aimed at strengthening the strategic and economic partnership between the U.S. and Africa by catalyzing transformative two-way trade and investment flows. By mobilizing private capital, Prosper Africa’s goal is to advance strategic objectives like job creation, increasing investment in infrastructure and advancing Africa’s digital transformation. The Prosper Africa Catalytic Investment Facility provides financing to African asset managers and financial vehicles that have a pipeline of growth-oriented businesses.