Nigeria’s ThriveAgric Selected For 500 Startups Accelerator Program In Silicon Valley
Nigerian agritech startup ThriveAgric has been selected to take part in the 24th edition of the 500 Startups accelerator program to be held in Silicon Valley, San Francisco. The program ordinarily invests USD 150 K and provides mentorship as well as hands-on training.
A league of Africa startups has been accepted into this accelerator program in the last few years, among which include Egypt’s Shezlong and Harmonica in Batch 23, and three startups from Nigeria in the program’s 22nd batch. Nonetheless, ThriveAgric is the only tech startup from Africa who has made the cut for the latest four-month accelerator, alongside 21 other companies hailing from the United States, Chile, France, and Hong Kong.
In 2017, ThriveAgric cinched funding from Abuja-based Ventures Platform, and the startup has a 40:40:20 profit-sharing model, with 40 percent profits going to farmers, the other 40 to subscribers and the remaining 20 goes to the enterprise.
Earlier this year, the agritech was among the 12 startups that were shortlisted to participate in the first Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa Program. ThriveAgric makes use of a crowdfunding platform to offer farmers with the needed finance to grow their businesses while offering ordinary people the avenue to invest in agriculture.
The startup was launched in the wee months of 2017 and is designed to crowdfund investments for smallholder farmers and offer it to them in the form of inputs, tech-driven advisory and access to ready markets.
The platform lists farms along with the details of what it takes to fund them and the returns. Subscribers then fund the units through online payments and receive regular updates as regards activities on the farmland – from planting to harvesting. The funded sums and returns are received after the harvest.
500 Startups is one of the most renowned accelerators in the world, having worked with more than 2,000 startups from across the globe. Its 24th startup accelerator kicked off a the end of September.
Featured Image Courtesy: ThriveAgric Via Medium
