Catalyst Fund Marks First Close Of Target USD 40 M Fund To Propel Climate Innovation In Africa

Catalyst Fund, a pre-seed venture capital fund and accelerator focused on driving climate resilience innovation in Africa, has announced the successful first close of its targeted USD 40 M fund, with over 20% committed. 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.

With a strategic focus on solutions in agritech 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.

The Catalyst Fund will support 40 pre-seed startups, focusing 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.