SEED Innovation Lab Brings Together 10 FinTech Teams to Address Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenges in Malawi
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Three-day intensive workshop concludes with competitive pitching contest and EUR 30,000 in grants up for grabs
Ten innovative teams gathered in Malawi from 17-19 November for an intensive three-day innovation lab focused on developing fintech solutions for climate-smart micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the agricultural value chain. The lab brought together participants ranging from early-stage ideas to established fintech solutions looking to scale to the districts of Kasungu and Mzimba.
From Ideation to Prototyping
Throughout the first two days, teams engaged in deep problem identification, working to understand the specific challenges faced by climate-smart MSMEs in agriculture. The workshop emphasised a user-centred approach, with participants consistently highlighting the need to understand their target group's problems first in order to develop truly impactful fintech solutions.
Teams worked intensively to ideate or refine their solution ideas, prototype their products, and improve existing prototypes. The programme guided participants through critical business development activities including:
- Addressing target users' experience when interacting with their product
- Identifying potential partners to support scaling or implementation
- Defining unique value propositions
- Summarising their work in a lean business canvas to take their ideas further
A Competitive Pitching Contest
The intense two and a half days of ideation, refinement and prototyping culminated in a fintech demo afternoon and cocktail reception on Friday. A diverse group of stakeholders attended the demo session, including representatives from financial institutions, development partners, NGOs, business associations and a SEED enterprise.
The demo session opened with welcoming remarks from SEED and the Flanders government, the funding partner of the project.
Three expert jurors evaluated the pitching contest:
- Lynda Jere from USADF
- Chimwemwe Chawinga from mHub
- Zeyn Ali from Centenary Bank
The pitching session proved highly competitive, with all stakeholders and jury members deeply engaged and interested in the fintech ideas presented. The jury provided valuable feedback to all teams, helping them refine their approaches and business models.
MlimiPay Limited, an already established farmers' digital wallet aiming to scale, emerged as the winner of the pitching contest.
Networking and Next Steps
Following the pitching session, teams eagerly approached the various representatives present during the networking reception, continuing conversations about how to implement their fintech ideas and exploring potential partnerships.
The innovation lab marks just the beginning of the journey for these teams. Participants now have the opportunity to apply for one of three EUR 10,000 grants. To qualify, teams must further refine their fintech solutions, incorporating all the feedback received and learnings from the lab.
These grants will enable three solutions to be implemented or scaled to the target districts and groups, directly supporting climate-smart MSMEs in Malawi's agricultural value chain.
The SEED Malawi Innovation Lab is supported by the Flanders government and is part of SEED's ongoing commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation that addresses environmental and social challenges across Africa.