Berlin and Amsterdam, 15 July 2015 – Protecting communities from landslides by planting vegetation in Colombia; reducing traffic jams via an online platform in Vietnam or recycling empty printer cartridges to relieve landfills, reduce carbon emissions and create jobs in South Africa. Such as these three winners of the SEED Awards - Fundacion Huellas Verdes, Dichung and GreenAble – innovative, green and inclusive enterprises face the challenge of raising sufficient funds in order to scale up and achieve their full growth potential.

Partnership

SEED and the Inclusive Business Accelerator (IB Accelerator, online and local platform to connect inclusive businesses to knowledge, support and funding) have joined forces to offer support for such high potential high-growth startup enterprises, which integrate social and environmental benefits into their business models. The partnership has selected 15 SEED Winners from the cycles 2013 and 2014, who won the SEED Low Carbon Award or are recipients of the SEED South Africa Accelerator Support.

Comprehensive Support

During the next months these enterprises will receive comprehensive support in launching their fundraising campaigns – apart from the chance to profile themselves on the IB Accelerator, the winners will attend the Nairobi Investor Forum. In this 1,5 day closed-door event, the entrepreneurs can improve their knowledge on how to raise capital and pitch their enterprises successfully. The chance to implement theory into practice will also present itself during the subsequent investor showcase and networking session, where the entrepreneurs will meet investors, impact investors and other funding institutions.

You can learn more about the 15 selected winners on the SEED page of the IBA Platform and by taking a sneak peek below (sorted in alphabetical order per sector).

Investor Forum

The Investor Forum will take place on 8-9 September 2015 at the SEED Africa Symposium (9-10 September) in Nairobi, Kenya. If you want to learn more about the ventures or would like to attend the Investor Forum in Nairobi, please contact us at investseed [dot] uno (invest[at]seed[dot]uno).

To get access to the fundraising information of the 15 ventures listed below you can also register as an investor on the IB Accelerator platform after creating a personal account first.

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Sector: Agriculture

Botanica Natural - South Africa

has developed a method of extracting beneficial substances from Bulbine frutescens, a traditional, organically cultivated medicinal plant, for the cosmetic industry. It provides employment opportunities, organizes training on health issues and has a positive environmental impact.

Fundacion Huellas Verdes - Colombia

helps to protect communities at risk of landslides by planting tiva, also known as vetiver, which can store carbon in its roots and prevents erosion when planted on slopes at risk of landslides. Working closely with the affected communities, the enterprise ensures maximum benefits for them.

Last Forest - India

is a marketing platform promoting fair trade principles, sustainable harvesting and biodiversity in India. The enterprise markets and sells 68 kinds of organic, forest-based or indigenous products such as handicrafts, garments, honey and timber products.

Tambul Leaves - India

promotes an environmentally friendly production of areca nut leaf plates as a livelihood option amongst rural communities in Northeast India. It provides training and assistance to rural producers and employment opportunities for women.

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Sector: Energy

Awamu Biomass Energy - Uganda

develops Top-Lit UpDraft (TLUD) gasifier stoves that utilize renewable energy from dry organic waste products, increasing agricultural profitability and sustainability through an environmentally responsible production of fuels.

Frontier Markets - India

provides rural low-income families with affordable solar energy lanterns, torches and home-lighting systems, using a hub-and-spoke distribution model.  The solar energy products allow customers to reduce their energy expenses and the use of traditional polluting fuel sources.

Green Bio Energy - Uganda

produces and sells briquettes made out of recycled materials, improved cook stoves as well as small amounts of solar lamps and water filters. It uses local resources and provides training on topics such as micro-enterprise management or briquettes production.

Green Heat - Uganda

installs and markets biogas digesters that convert decaying organic material from latrines and agricultural waste into biogas fuel for cooking and heating. It improves waste management and reduces deforestation and CO2 emissions.

New Sun Road - Vietnam and East Africa

is a consortium of academic & business partners, who provide sustainable energy services to rural areas through photovoltaic arrays and hydroenergy harvesters. They source labour locally and educate community members about operations and maintenance, creating resilient technical installations.

Nuru Energy - Uganda

markets an innovative and simple-to-use off-grid recharging platform for portable LED lights or low-power devices, using kinetic energy. It works with local organisations to recruit and train micro-franchise entrepreneurs.

Solar Serve - Vietnam

manufactures renewable energy equipment, such as solar devices, clean cookers and fuels; in order to reduce air pollution, improve health conditions and create economic benefits. It targets poor communities in areas of serious deforestation, changing their habit of using traditional firewood.

Sustaintech - India

markets and distributes green, fuel-efficient commercial cook stove designs to lower income communities for cooking and food- / post-harvest processing. It delivers positive financial, environmental and health impacts. 

Trees for Global Benefit - Uganda

is a cooperative carbon offsetting scheme, linking landholder farmers in Uganda to the voluntary carbon market. Small-scale, farmer-led, agro-/forestry projects preserve natural resources and improve rural livelihood.

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Sector: Mobility

Dichung.vn - Vietnam         

has created an easy-to-use online network platform which helps reduce traffic jams and environmental pollution in urban areas of Vietnam. It creates favorable conditions for car sharing, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

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Sector: Waste

GreenAble - South Africa

has found an innovative solution for recycling empty printer cartridges. By selling the recycled plastic and metals, it generates a steady flow of income and employment opportunities for previously unemployed persons with disabilities.

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The enterprises operating in Colombia, India, Uganda, Tanzania and Vietnam are Winners of the SEED Low Carbon Awards supported by the International Climate Initiative (ICI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). The enterprises operating in South Africa are Winners of the SEED South Africa Awards supported by the Government of Flanders.