FINCA Ventures Prize competition provides $400K funding to six African startups
The 2025 FINCA Ventures Prize competition, which promotes innovation in fintech for financial inclusion and climate-smart agriculture, has awarded US$400,000 in catalytic funding to six African startups.
One of FINCA Ventures’ main initiatives is the FINCA Ventures Prize competition, which drew over 300 entries from all over the continent this year.
In order to compete for catalytic funding to increase their impact, six startups from two categories—fintech for financial inclusion and climate-smart agriculture—made it to the final round.
US$100,000 in catalytic funding was awarded to the first-place winners in each category, Foluso Ojo, founder of truQ, and Esther Kimani, founder of Farmer Lifeline Technologies.
The prize money for second and third place was US$60,000 and US$40,000, respectively. Third place went to Karpolax co-founder Samuel Muyita in climate-smart agriculture and Christian Nwachukwu in fintech for financial inclusion. Silo Africa co-founder Eliud Rugut in climate-smart agriculture and Cladfy co-founders Ebby Gatamu and Kibe John in fintech for financial inclusion took second and third, respectively.
“African entrepreneurs are designing bold, locally grounded solutions to complex challenges,” said Andrée Simon, global CEO of FINCA. “They deserve support that matches their ambition: resources that accelerate growth, open doors, and amplify their impact.”
