Blog AgriTech4Uzbekistan Innovation Challenge: Final 22 innovation teams announced for the upcoming bootcamp in Tashkent
22 Innovation Teams Are Joining Us in Tashkent for an Immersive 3-Day Bootcamp.
It is with great pleasure today that the CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP) announces the 22 trailblazing innovation teams that have been successful in progressing to the next stage of the AgriTech4Uzbekistan Innovation Challenge – the immersive bootcamp. Having launched the open call for applications in June this year, the platform received an unprecedented 571 applications from a global cohort of inspiring teams who are working to develop ground-breaking agri-tech solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the agriculture and food sectors in Uzbekistan and Central Asia. The final 22 teams have been selected through a rigorous review process, and will now travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 13-15 September 2023 for the bootcamp.
The Bootcamp
Hosted by Westminster International University in Tashkent, the intensive 3-day bootcamp will offer technical guidance, workshops, mentorship, pitch training, and plenary sessions, as well as opportunities to engage and exchange with 45 like-minded innovators. The bootcamp will close with the final Pitch Day, where teams will compete for a place in the final 10 by pitching their solutions to a selection committee of esteemed industry and scientific experts. The top 10 teams will then be admitted onto a fully sponsored acceleration program, before the final phase of the Innovation Challenge wherein 3 teams with proven sustainable business models and scaling plans will be awarded up to 30.000,00 USD equity-free grants, as well as a commitment to post-acceleration support to accelerate go-to-market and growth.
The bootcamp sets out to:
- Support innovators in refining their business models and pitching skills through interactive workshops, targeted business training, and individualized coaching, preparing them effectively for the acceleration program.
- Facilitate valuable networking opportunities within the agri-food and climate-tech innovation ecosystem in Uzbekistan, connecting participants, project partners, and other stakeholders to forge collaborations with investors, collaborators, and customers.
- Provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of Uzbekistan’s agriculture sector, its specific needs and challenges, ensuring participants to anchor and tailor their solutions to align with the local context.
- Ensure innovators effectively demonstrate the practical applicability of their solutions within the local context, addressing key priority areas.
- Support innovators in refining the scientific validity of their innovation and business models while developing robust scaling plan to enhance their long-term viability and sustainability.
- Help participants uncover market opportunities specific to Uzbekistan.
- Educate participants about the government strategies and available funding mechanisms in Uzbekistan, empowering them to access resources for their ventures.
More about the AgriTech4 Uzbekistan Innovation Challenge
As part of the CGIAR Research Integrated Initiative, Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa (F2R-CWANA),
Powered by the CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform and co-designed with CGIAR centers ICARDA, IWMI, and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT – as part of the CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative, Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa (F2R-CWANA) - the AgriTech4Uzbekistan Innovation Challenge aims to scout, accelerate, and fund science-based innovations that can drive sustainability, efficiency and resilience in the Uzbek agricultural sector, all while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals in the region more broadly. The success of the initative to date has been a result of close collaboration with implementing partners, IT Park, innoWIUT Entrepreneur’s Lab of Westminster International University in Tashkent, FAO, the United Nations Development Programme Uzbekistan, the Agency of Innovative Development under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan through the AKIS Center, Indorama, the Uzbekistan Venture Capital Association, the International Agriculture University, and the Tashkent State Agrarian University.
The Final 22 Innovation Teams
And so here they are! Congratulation to the final 22!
What’s Next?
As we progress through the AgriTech4Uzbekistan Innovation Challenge, the A4IP will keep you up to date with all developments as they occur. The final 10 teams will be announced via our official channels once the bootcamp has closed, before the acceleration program is then initiated in late September.
Once again, congratulations to the 22 successful trailblazers, and good luck in Tashkent!
More on the Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP)
The Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP) is a venture space that builds on CGIAR’s legacy in Research and Innovation to co-design, accelerate and fund science-driven technologies to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. A4IP explores innovative partnership models to bridge research products from lab to market, creating demand for CGIAR science and strengthening its role in the innovation ecosystem, all while funding the most visionary teams to leverage their scientific creativity.
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