AFRICA, ASIA SEE APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR ADAPTATION SME ACCELERATOR PROJECT

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Village Capital and The Lightsmith Group announced that applications have opened in Africa and Asia for the Adaptation SME Accelerator Project (ASAP), a programme for SMEs and startups that are scaling market-based solutions to critical climate adaptation and resilience challenges.

“SMEs and startups provide the local, contextualised solutions for climate adaptation and resilience in developing countries but struggle to obtain finance,” said Adedana Ashebir, Regional Director, Africa and Middle East, Village Capital in a statement.

“Through ASAP, companies at the intersection of impact, inclusion, and investability stand a chance to bring their ideas from vision to scale.”

Meanwhile, Jay Koh, The Lightsmith Group MD said: “Accelerating the growth of selected climate adaptation solutions companies in developing countries is the final step in the ASAP strategy.

“By connecting SMEs identified through the Adaptation Solutions Taxonomy to resources of a world-class accelerator, we can demonstrate how these companies can scale up their solutions to the growing impacts of climate change.”

ASAP is a grant-funded initiative led by The Lightsmith Group, supported by the Global Environment Facility’s Special Climate Change Fund, Conservation International, and the Inter-American Development Bank that seeks to build an ecosystem for small- to medium-sized companies in emerging markets that have technologies, products, and services capable of building resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Each of the 16 companies will have the opportunity to work closely with industry experts, investors, and ecosystem partners to develop the networks they need to scale their impact.

All startups in the programme will be invited to join Abaca, Village Capital’s global online platform that helps entrepreneurs analyse, prepare their businesses for investment and match them with the right investors and resources.

Applications close on Jan 31, 2022.

-- BERNAMA