Ghanaian agri-tech startup Farmerline was named second-best startup in the food vertical at the end of the Switzerland-based Kickstart Accelerator, and is planning to open an office in Zurich next year.
Disrupt Africa reported earlier in the year Farmerline – alongside South African fintech startup Libryo – had been selected to take part in the Zurich-based Kickstart Accelerator, a zero-equity programme that provides funding and gives startups access to some of the best known corporates locally and internationally, such as AXA Winterthur, Swisscom and PwC.
Both startups successfully completed the programme and made important contacts, with Farmerline chosen the second-best startup in the food vertical and now in the process of opening an office in Zurich.
“The greatest value-add from participating in the Kickstart Accelerator is the credibility and direct access to C-level executives of the global corporations based in Switzerland. They are singularly focused on helping their startups to get least one partnership from the 60 global partners that support the programme. I will do it again when given the chance,” said Alloysius Attah, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Farmerline.
Patricia Schlenter, programme manager of the Kickstart Accelerator, said she had seen a great deal of progress in this year’s group of Kickstart participants.
“They’ve undergone significant development over the past 11 intense weeks, building important and potentially long-term connections to industry experts, possible clients, investors, fellow entrepreneurs and corporations in Switzerland. Farmerline has benefitted from this process as well,” she said.
“At the beginning of the programme, we set ambitious goals – and we are overwhelmed to even have exceeded them. Besides the promising cooperation agreements, several of the startups are also hiring Swiss employees or even plan to open a new office here.”
