Nigerian agritech startup Kitovu makes Qualcomm Make in Africa 2024 cohort

Nigerian agriculture technology company, Kitovu has been shortlisted for the Qualcomm Make in Africa 2024 cohort. This was revealed by Qualcomm Incorporated while announcing the shortlisted African startups for the cohort.

Kitovu was selected from approximately 250 startups from 30 countries that applied for the Qualcomm Make in Africa 2024 program. The equity-free mentorship program identifies promising early-stage African startups keen on applying advanced connectivity and processing technologies to innovative end-to-end systems solutions, including hardware. These technologies include 5G, Edge-AI/ML, Compute, and IoT.  

Founded in 2015 by Nwachinemere Emeka, Kitovu has for nearly a decade been disrupting the Nigerian and African agriculture industry by devising innovative ways to address the issues plaguing the agro-industry.

The startup started off tackling three important issues: poor crop yields, post-harvest wastage, and market access for farm produce. It first developed a unique geo-location technology that matches crops with the right soil types. The company also had a mechanism to address issues of post-harvest losses by building world-class smart storage facilities to preserve perishable goods for smallholder farmers.

The startup also developed a service called eProcure, that connects farmers directly to buyers for their farm produce. eProcure is like an inventory management system, with an algorithm that guarantees delivery of high-quality produce when and where you need it.

The agriculture technology company was also among 17 finalists that recently benefited from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) program.

See also: Kitovu Wants to Solve Africa’s $100bn Agriculture Problem

Kitovu among 10 successful startups 

Kitovu is one of only 10 African startups selected for Qualcomm’s Make in Africa 2024 cohort. Others are Kenya’s Aurora Health which provides AI-based cardiovascular health care tools; CropScan which uses solar-powered smart farming IoT devices to boost yield; NextAI Studios which builds AI-based emotion detection into toys for children’s mental healthcare; and RIM Nextgen which uses smart tools for monitoring propane consumption.   

Also selected are Tunisia’s Cure Bionics which makes smart 3D printed prosthetic arms; Egypt’s DevisionX provides AI-based low-code computer vision tools, Kalio, a Cameroon-based startup building AI tools for farmers to help boost agricultural output, South Africa’s Sparcx which uses AI for enhancing radar signal processing; and Vizmerald, a Tunisia-based startup which is working on AI-based textile industry inspection. 

Qualcomm said in a statement that the selected startups have demonstrated exceptional potential and will receive free mentorship, business coaching, access to engineering consultation for product development, and guidance on protecting intellectual property. 

“I am thrilled with the overwhelming response to the Africa Innovation Platform this year,” said Alex Rogers, President, QTL and Global Affairs, Qualcomm Incorporated. 

“The quality and diversity of the applications received reflect the immense talent and potential within Africa’s technology ecosystem. We are excited to work with the shortlisted startups and provide them with the necessary resources and support to drive innovation and create a positive impact in their communities.”