Held in Uganda’s capital, the AYuTe NextGen 2025 competition involved a rigorous selection process that reviewed over 100 applications from 10 African countries. Eleven finalists were selected to pitch their innovations live before a panel of investors and policy leaders.
This highly competitive platform brought together some of the continent’s greatest minds, with agricultural innovations designed to transform the sector by offering new solutions to climate change impacts and water insecurity. Finalists competed in two core categories: Climate-Smart Agriculture and Access to Finance and Markets.
In the Climate-Smart Agriculture category, the Overall Winner was Carolyn Mwangi, Founder and CEO of Kimplanter Seedlings and Nurseries (Kenya). Her data-driven enterprise supplies climate-resilient vegetable, fruit, and tree seedlings tailored for smallholder farmers.
Upon receiving the award, Mwangi emphasized her team’s belief that building resilience for smallholder farmers starts with something as simple yet powerful as the right seedlings.
“This recognition means so much, not just to me, but to our entire team at Kimplanter. Winning AYuTe NextGen is not just a milestone but it’s a sign that Africa’s agricultural future will be shaped by innovation, data, and the determination of young entrepreneurs like us,” she said.
The First Runner-Up in this category was Maryanne Gichanga, CEO of Agritechs Analytics (Kenya), recognized for her solar-powered farm sensors that support pest alerts, soil health monitoring, and remote farm management through mobile tools.
The AYuTe NextGen 2025 had a diverse panel of judges, representing sectors from finance and climate innovation to agriculture and telecommunications, who assessed each solution based on its value to smallholder farmers, technological soundness, data security, social impact, scalability, team capacity, and financial viability.
In the Access to Finance and Markets category, the Overall Winner was Nana Opoku, CEO of Grow For Me (Ghana). His digital platform enables individuals to invest in crops managed by experienced farmers, with profits shared post-harvest.
“This opportunity validates the work we’re doing at Grow For Me and marks a major shift for Ghana’s smallholder farmers,” said Opoku. “It will help unlock financial opportunities, stabilize incomes, and provide protection against crop losses. This win is not just ours, it belongs to farmers across Ghana.”
The First Runner-Up was Richies Attai, Co-Founder and CEO of Winich Farms (Nigeria), whose end-to-end tech platform connects farmers directly to factories, while also providing bundled credit and insurance solutions.
