Pickmeup Technologies, one of the fastest-growing tech-driven startups in Africa, has been selected to take part in one of the two global programs – on Digital Agriculture and Financial Inclusion- organised this year by the SDG Impact Accelerator (SDGia), with the goal of creating impactful and sustainable solutions for the most pressing livelihood problems in the least developed countries (LDCs).
The SDGia initiative is a global accelerator launched by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme in 2018. It brings together public and private sectors to focus on solutions for the most pressing issues of the globe and has attracted a great amount of interest from startups all around the world with more than a thousand applications received from 74 countries for this year’s programmes.
Nigeria-based Pickmeup was one of the 20 startups selected for the Financial Inclusion Pre-Acceleration Programme, out of 425 companies that submitted applications from 52 countries. Selected startups come from 7 different countries and 8 of them have at least one female co-founder.
Also Read: Startup Grind lists Pickmeup Among ‘Startups to Watch’ Globally in 2021
Financing of smallholder farmers and MSMEs, financial literacy, microfinance, alternative income, and digital financial services for the bottom of the pyramid are some of the selected cohort’s focus areas.
For the digital agriculture cohort, 21 startups from 9 different countries were shortlisted to take part in the Pre-acceleration Programme after a thorough evaluation process of 649 applications from 54 countries.
The Pre-Acceleration Programme is planned to commence in the last week of March with a rich agenda designed specifically to meet the needs of selected startups, who will be receiving mentorship backed by strategic partners all along with the program. The program will be run with the support of inspiring mentors from all around the world.
Also Read: Pickmeup Appoints Tech Industry Veteran as Chief Technology Officer
“The SDGia program is a unique opportunity for Pickmeup to boost growth by learning from industry-leading experts while contributing to sustainable development in developing economies,” said Michael Okaredje, Pickmeup Founder and CEO. “This is especially important to our plan to add new service offerings – including fintech solutions – to the Super App set to be launched this year. We’re excited and look forward to participating in the financial inclusion programme.”
After the Pre-Acceleration Programme, 5 startups from each cohort will be selected to continue with the Acceleration Program to take place between May-June 2021 and will be eligible to receive an equity-free grant of up to $15,000. At the end of the Acceleration Program, the teams selected by the final jury will receive additional funding to implement their solution in Uganda and Bangladesh.
“The focus on empowering systems entrepreneurs, together with a powerful form of partnership, constitutes the backbone of the SDGia initiative,” a statement on the SDGia website reads. “SDGia Partners express their gratitude to all the startups that have applied for the process and encourage them to keep the spirit in trying to create impact to reach the SDG goals.”
