EBRD AgVenture - Accelerating Agri-tech and Digital Innovation for Sustainable Agri-food systems (EBRD-16575)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 17, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
AgVenture
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Climate and Environment
  • Technical Cooperation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Advisory Services
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
Not Disclosed
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Media Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Jan 13, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Dec 17, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the EBRD, global agrifood systems are under increasing pressure from climate change, supply-chain disruptions and resource constraints. As both a major emitter and a climate-vulnerable sector, agribusiness must accelerate innovation to improve sustainability, productivity and resilience. Agritech and food-tech solutions are central to this transition, yet early-stage ventures depend on supportive ecosystems, finance and strong market linkages.

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), agrifood innovation can significantly strengthen food security and inclusion by reducing losses, improving traceability and connecting farmers, women and youth to markets. However, ecosystems across the region remain uneven, with many promising entrepreneurs lacking networks, financing and scale-up support.

The EBRD brings longstanding experience in promoting sustainable, inclusive and digitally enabled food systems, as well as deep expertise in supporting early-stage innovation ecosystems. Through its investments and advisory activities, the Bank has helped companied improve supply chain resilience, integrate local suppliers, adopt green technologies and enhance managerial capabilities. The EBRD's Venture Capital Investment Programme (VCIP), Enterprise Expansion Facility (ESIF), and Star Venture Programme provide a strong foundation for supporting high-potential start-ups and innovation intermediaries.

AgVenture - an EBRD agri-food tech vertical built on the Star Venture methodology - has demonstrated strong results since its pilot in 2022, providing tailored support, mentoring, investor linkages and corporate matchmaking for early-stage agrifood innovators across the EBRD regions. The 2023 and 2024 AgVenture cohorts confirmed robust demand from start-ups and strong interest from corporates seeking digital, climate-smart and sustainability-focused solutions.

The project is firmly aligned with the EBRD's Strategic Capital Framework (SCF) 2025 - 2029, advancing innovation, digitalisation, private sector development and climate resilience while expanding opportunities for youth, women and rural entrepreneurs.

This project will adapt and deploy AgVenture in the new SSA region, running two competitive challenge rounds, providing tailored support to selected ventures, strengthening corporate linkages and generating market intelligence on innovation and investment opportunities. It will also help larger corporates, including prospective EBRD clients, adopt solutions developed in the region.

Key activities include:

- Two rounds of competitions held to find Sub-Saharan African start-ups focused on sustainability and decarbonisation in food and agricultural production; enhanced resilience and adaptation to climate change, digitalisation of agri-food value chains and/or improved inclusion and equality of opportunity.
- After screening, up to 20 applicants will be shortlisted based upon satisfying pre-determined criteria. Shortlisted innovators will then pitch their products and/or services to win the competition. A jury composed of well-known international professionals specialised in the agri-tech sector will select the final winners.
- Winning innovators will receive a tailored advisory toolkit through the Star Venture programme. They will also have the opportunity to present their products and services through the various high-level events organised or attended by the EBRD. All shortlisted candidates will be offered exposure to Star Venture and other EBRD networks.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
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EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:

Phone: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html

How it works

How it works