Catalyst Fund secures USD 260K to boost climate startup in Kenya

Catalyst Fund has been selected as Village Capital’s ecosystem-building partner in Kenya under the 2025 Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Africa (ESEA) program.

With support from Norway through Norad – the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Catalyst Fund will receive up to USD 260K (approximately Sh33 million) to accelerate climate-focused startups across Kenya.

This grant follows the successful first phase of the ESEA program, which supported 14 ecosystem builders across five African countries.

In the 2025 phase, Catalyst Fund will work alongside Ennovate Ventures (Tanzania), Emerge Livelihoods (Malawi), IdeiaLab (Mozambique), and Reach for Change (Ghana) to drive climate innovation.

Together, these organizations aim to build a pipeline of 500 startups, provide pre-acceleration support to 100 startups, accelerate 30 startups per country across two cohorts and award USD 25K in grant funding to four top-performing startups per country.

"By equipping these ecosystem builders to fund and support climate-focused entrepreneurs directly, Village Capital aims to create a sustainable pipeline of innovative solutions that drive both climate action and economic growth across the region."

"The call for applications is open to early-stage startups in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Ghana developing scalable sustainability solutions in Climate Adaptation, Renewable Energy, Blue Economy, and Food Security. Applications close on April 30, 2025."