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AgriSolar Product Accelerator Program

Drive the adoption and use of solar technologies in the agriculture sector by supporting Solution Providers to identify, validate, test and scale unique financing models.
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Project Overview

Innovation Village through its Hub has partnered with Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to implement the Innovative Financing for Local AgriSolar Entrepreneurs Program. The program aim is to identify and scale innovative financing models to increase the adoption and use of solar technologies, initially focusing on the Dairy, Aquaculture and Horticulture value chains.  

About the Program

The AgriSolar Product Accelerator program is a 13-week intensive product development and refinement journey designed for Solution Providers building use cases and incorporating Solar Technologies across the agriculture value chains of Diary, Aquaculture and Horticulture. The purpose is to empower solution providers with the tools and skills that they need to scale their solutions.  

The two-year program aims to mainstream use of solar technologies in Agriculture by supporting Solution Providers to identify, validate, test and scale unique financing models. This will result in over 100 solutions being adopted and 10,000 jobs created across the various AgriSolar value chains. 

Program Pillar

Needs Assessment

The program will determine the most impactful areas of the Startup’s journey to apply robust Business Advisory and Technical Assistance towards building and scaling the adoption of sustainable solutions.

Building

Run 7 weeks of Build Sprints with the Solution Providers’ team to address gaps identified during the Needs Analysis and to refine the core Value Proposition, identify new or optimize Routes to Market, refine Go-To-Market Strategy and reimagine Unit Economic to build a sustainable enterprise delivering value for communities served. The startups will be supported by experts to create a prototype/ minimum viable product showing commercial potential. 

Market Development

Conduct 6-week in-market activation of the Startup’s refined Go-To-Market strategy to build high-quality traction and realize significant improvements in the adoption and revenue. Solution Providers will leverage tactics developed during the building phase and our network of partners to accelerate market and commercial traction. 

Demo day

Each team will present their prototype and a roadmap proposal towards potential commercialization. This is to leverage on the improved performance across adoption and commercialization metrics, and the overall improvements to the Startup’s execution. Introduce the Startup to our capital ecosystem to access stage-relevant funding opportunities.  

Fundraising

Provide dedicated support to increase financial and fundraising support services for local solar entrepreneurs

Eligibility Criteria

This program is open to startups working on technologies and new business models at the intersection of solar energy and Agriculture value chains. We are particularly interested in startups with a commitment to scaling their solutions to underserved last-mile communities.

To qualify for the program, the start-up should:

  • Fundamentally uses digital and solar technologies to create and deliver value to the last mile
  • Operate actively in the Diary, Horticultural and Aquacultural value chains in Uganda.
  • Be fully owned by Ugandan citizens.
  • Have been in operation for at least 2 years
  • Have attained a minimum of either $2,500 in Net Monthly Revenue or 500 end customers.
  • At least have two team members dedicated to participating in the program for the full duration of the training
  • Have the ambition to scale and grow fast

Application Process

STEP 1
Fill out the expression of Interest form. We review your expression of interest to see if you are potentially a good fit.
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STEP 1
STEP 2
If we are interested in learning more about your company, our team will reach out to you for a 1-on-1 conversation and request supporting information (eligibility criteria 1-7) to validate your submissions in the Expression of interest
STEP 2
STEP 3
Following the 1-on-1 conversation, the team will reach out to confirm your participation in the program (Please the T&Cs apply)
STEP 3