After a cohort is selected, successful applicants will receive four to six months of hands-on technical assistance. After this period, they will transition into the alumni program, where they benefit from continued direct connections to investors and partners, media publicity support and access to relevant resources.

The following businesses are eligible to apply:
● A legally incorporated and for-profit enterprise engaged in agriculture and food systems, with its primary operations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
● Early- or growth-stage and post-revenue, with at least two years of operations, and one year of audited financial statements.
● Actively seeking commercial capital, whether through debt or equity financing. A fundraising strategy including grants is also acceptable.
● Implementing or planning to implement climate- and nature-positive practices within its operations, or offering climate and nature intelligence, products, or services to the agrifood sector.
● The management team should have at least two people, one of whom should be able to commit to the time requirements of the program and will be our main point of contact. The main contact should have business-level fluency in English.

Certainly. We use a typology to understand agribusiness practices that have high potential and relevance for climate mitigation, climate resilience, and nature positivity. If we can identify these practices within the business model, the Connector can work alongside the agribusiness to explore potential indicators and methods to assess impact, whether quantitatively or qualitatively. Learn more about the impact indicators we track and measure here.

No, the Connector does not directly invest in the agribusinesses we support. We help agribusinesses within our cohort unlock capital from relevant investors within our network.

If successful in your application, you will commit to active participation by allocating sufficient resources for the four-to six-month length of the program. This will involve sharing materials required for effective technical assistance in a timely manner and attending calls arranged with the CLIC business and impact teams. Agribusinesses’ levels of involvement and contribution are often correlated with the expected quality of outputs and outcomes.

Ideally, the founder or CEO is actively involved in the process and acts as the primary point of contact with the Connector team throughout the program. If required, you may provide additional points of contact from your management team to streamline communications. During the course of the program, our regular engagement is expected to be via email correspondence and a weekly call. After graduating from the program, our support is flexible, with our engagement depending on the level of support you require.

Selected agribusinesses will have a dedicated point of contact and support from the Connector and the extended CLIC team, depending on their specific needs. Our teams hold a wealth of expertise across climate and nature finance, impact measurement, capital raising, and communications. We also engage external specialists where necessary.

We provide no-cost technical assistance to climate- and nature-positive agribusinesses in emerging economies, enabled by donor funding from the UK Government’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). We do not take any fees or shares in return for this.

We operate remotely and flexibly, but expect that at least one representative from the agribusinesses will travel to attend our sponsored in-person investor engagement events.

We prioritize the privacy of agribusinesses in our cohort and are dedicated to ensuring that all information received by the Connector is managed in full compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines. Where relevant, bilateral non-disclosure agreements can be executed to provide relevant assurances.

Eligible agribusinesses under the 'Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems' category can apply for either program individually or to both, depending on their needs. However, companies that apply under the 'Fintech for Financial Inclusion' stream are only able to apply for FINCA’s prize competition.

No. There is one application form for this collaboration. In the form, you will be asked to indicate whether you are applying for the prize competition through FINCA, technical assistance through the Connector, or both.

You may participate fully in the program you are selected for. Please note that selection for one program does not automatically guarantee selection for the other. Although both programs share the same application process, each program conducts its selection process independently.

No. The support from both programs is assessed based on their respective criteria. Indicating interest in both will not influence the outcome of your application.