Ugandan startup, Emata wins €5,000 Catapult Inclusion Africa award to increase loan offerings for farmers

Ugandan agritech startup, Emata has emerged winner of the Best Catapulter award at the finals of the Catapult Inclusion Africa 2021 digital bootcamp.

Emata clinched the top prize of €5,000 after seeing off competition from 13 other finalists to win the digital financial inclusion bootcamp organized by the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT). In second place was Mosabi, a Sierra Leone-based fintech and edtech hybrid offering financial solutions.

Ghanaian startup, Nokwary Technologies finished as second runner-up for its voice-based interfaces for financial services, with the aim to drive financial inclusion among the digitally excluded.

For the third edition of Catapult Inclusion Africa, 14 startups were selected from 163 applications submitted from across 29 different countries.

Among the 14 finalists that pitched at the virtual finals is Nigeria’s Awabah and Crop2Cash as well as Kenya’s Kotani Pay and Vooli.

As the overall winner, Emata will also get free entry and accommodation to attend the upcoming “African MicroFinance Week” scheduled to take place in October 2021. 

Founded in 2017 by Bram van den Bosch and Timothy Musoke, Emata empowers farmers by offering affordable loans to optimise their product yields.

The startup is based in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, where it works with farmers to boost productivity and enhance operational methods.

Using the Emata app, farmers can quickly access instant and affordable loans. Emata combines farmland data with advanced risk analytics to make sure that its loans are tailored to the needs of each farmer.

Speaking on winning this year’s Catapult financial inclusion award, Emata’s CEO says the startup is now looking to scale its solution in Uganda and targeting expansion into other countries.

Access to formal and affordable financial services is crucial for farmers to prosper, and we think Emata solves this in a sustainable and innovative way that ultimately strengthens the entire ecosystem.

Bram van den Bosch, CEO & Co-Founder of Emata

“Catapult and the LHoFT has offered us a platform to meet, discuss with and learn from great founders and investors. We look forward to putting this into action as we scale up in Uganda and beyond,” he added.

Developed by the LHoFT Foundation, the Catapult Inclusion Africa program targets companies focusing on financial inclusion in Africa, aiming to build bridges between Africa and Europe, highlighting their initiatives and very much aligned with the sustainability goals of Luxembourg’s finance centre.