Applications open for Catalyze Tech Challenge (Ethiopia)

Catalyze Tech Ethiopia, a joint initiative of Precise Ethiopia and Global SDG7 Hubs, aims to support enterprises developing innovative solar energy solutions to improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers and micro & small businesses (MSEs) in Ethiopia.

The process begins with the Catalyze Tech Challenge, where they identify and select high-potential enterprises to join their incubation program. They will then provide ongoing incubation support to implement and scale the prototype design or early-stage product of the winners of the challenge that is based on the needs of the participants.

Catalyze Tech Ethiopia seeks innovative solar energy prototype designs or early-stage products from local enterprises in Ethiopia to tackle livelihood challenges for:

• Smallholder farmers in production or post-harvesting
• MSEs in agro-processing

Awards Information

• The best solutions from Catalyze Tech will be onboarded to their incubation program where they will be awarded based on their needs. The incubation program support will include:
  • Up to 700,000 ETB in cost-sharing support for prototype development and pilot implementations.
  • Capacity building support for areas such as:
    • Prototype development and refining
    • Piloting support
    • Partnership building
    • Connecting with technical experts
    • Business development support (BDS)
    • Technical Support
    • Mentorships

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be a registered enterprise, meaning they must have Ethiopian business license registration and necessary verifications. This ensures the credibility of the entities and helps avoid the obstacles that may arise during implementation.
• Enterprises must also be compliant with local regulations and have no legal or financial liabilities that could impede participation.
• Women and youth entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply

Selection Criteria

• Innovation and Technical Feasibility:
  • Innovation in this context means a PUE solution that has not yet been implemented in the Ethiopian context. It can also be an existing solution that is slightly altered to fit a new purpose.
  • Uniqueness of the solution.
  • Use of technology to address challenges faced by smallholder farmers and MSEs.
  • Feasibility of the prototype’s implementation.
• Impact Potential:
  • Clear and measurable benefits to smallholder farmers.
  • Potential for improving livelihoods and productivity.
• Objective and scope alignment:
  • Alignment of the project objectives with the program’s goals.
  • Whether unnecessary components other than the proposed project scope are added in the application.
• Scalability and Replicability:
  • Potential to scale across regions or to new farmer segments.
  • Adaptability of the solution to different contexts.
• Sustainability:
  • Viability of the solution.
  • Plans for sustaining operations post-program.

For more information, visit Precise Ethiopia.