Kenyan startup Taimba, which connects farmers to retailers, was won of three winners of the 2018 Food+City Challenge Prize at the recent SXSW event, taking home US$10,000 in prize money.
The Food+City Challenge Prize is an international competition among business startups encouraging innovation in the urban food system, which was this year part of the SXSW programming for the first time.
After receiving almost 100 applications from 14 countries, 14 startup finalists were invited to pitch their food logistics solution at the event in Austin to deliver their pitch and receive feedback from a panel of Food+City coaches to further refine their value propositions.
Three startups were named overall winners, taking home US$10,000 each in funding, including Kenyan agri-tech startup Taimba, a business-to-business (B2B) mobile-based cashless platform that connects farmers to retailers, cutting wastage and making agricultural products affordable without undercutting the farmer.
The other two winners were agricultural systems designer Aggressively Organic and remote sensing solution UAV-IQ, both from the United States (US).
“Although only three companies could take home the prize, the real value of the competition lies in the connections made among their peers, mentors, judges and investors. We look forward to keeping up with the progress of each company and supporting them in any way possible,” the organisers said.
