GHANA Catalyst Fund, Mastercar...

The two-year program will improve the livelihoods and financial resilience of MSEs in Ghana, that have been impacted by COVID-19, by enabling access to digital commerce platforms and access to market.  

The accelerator will select and scale six digital commerce and innovative companies that can enable informal MSEs to reap the benefits of digital commerce, leveraging Catalyst Fund’s existing proven modelto combine: 

• flexible grant capital of up to US$120,000 per company; 
• deep, bespoke, expert-led venture acceleration support;
• portfolio meet-ups and curated cohort-based workshop sessions with local expertise and operational support by MEST;  
• a commitment to sharing best practices, toolkits, learnings, and insights with the digital commerce sector;
• connections with Catalyst Fund’s growing global Circle of Investors (65+) and Circle of Corporate Innovators; and
• ecosystem acceleration to create a more enabling investment and business environment in which digital commerce companies can prosper.

The first expansion of Catalyst Fund beyond its flagship Inclusive Fintech program will officially launch via a virtual event and company pitch showcase on November 4^th (registration here).

All participating companies in the pitch will be selected by an expert Investment Advisory Committee. Selection is informed by market research conducted to identify the barriers and opportunities for expanding inclusive digital commerce in Ghana. Initial research findings will be released at the official launch event on November 4^th. 

Speakers at the launch will include: 

• Alex Bram of Hubtel; 
• Lexi Novitske of Acuity Venture Partners; 
• Albert Biga of Zoobashop; 
• Kweku Fleming of MEST Scale; 
• Jane del Ser of BFA Global; and more.

The event will conclude with a pitch showcase from four leading digital commerce companies across Ghana, which will  be held at the MEST Accra Incubator. 

https://www.appsafrica.com/catalyst-fund-launches-digital-commerce-accelerator-in-ghana/