launch of the Neycha Accelerator & Fund (Neycha) in Uganda and Kenya. Neycha is the first blended capacity building and financial vehicle focusing solely on agroecological enterprises. Together with our partner Shona we built Neycha, to give agroecological enterprises the boost they need. Neycha’s unique approach encompasses capacity, capital and connections and will entail three phases: 

Pre-boot camp 

30 agroecological enterprises per year will be selected for a pre-bootcamp. The enterprises will receive mentoring sessions and participate in workshops and networking events. During this phase the focus lies on fully understanding the enterprises’ needs, potential and identify gaps. 

6-day Bootcamp 

20 agroecological enterprises will then be selected to continue the programme and enter the 6-day bootcamp. The bootcamp curricula will be targeted towards the needs of the enterprises and focus on different areas such as strengthening their agroecological practices, support the value chain mapping and focus on business capacity building. 

Post bootcamp 

During four months following the bootcamp, enterprises will be supported with mentorship and expert consulting focusing on investment-readiness and the completion of the due diligence process. Furthermore, enterprises will be connected to networks and other enterprises to foster peer learning. Finally, 12 enterprises will be granted a loan between 10,000 and 50,000 USD from the Neycha revolving loan fund. 

The application phase for the first cohort for the pre-bootcamp has now officially opened. Please feel free to share the attached flyer with any potentially interested agroecological enterprise in Kenya or Uganda and invite them to apply to our programme. Eligible AEEs must: 

·       be registered as for-profit private enterprise in Kenya or Uganda 

·       be at least 3 years in business 

·       generate at least 40,000 USD in annual revenue  

·       further criteria and information 

For further information please do not hesitate to reach out to me or check out our website.