The Board of Directors for Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC), has paid a site visit to Maku Foods and Grow For Me, two of KIC supported businesses. The visit created the opportunity for the Board to interact with the co-founders and some of the young people who have been employed by these organisations. The Delegation from the Board was led by the Board Chair, Joe Mensah, and Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, Executive Director for KIC. Speaking about impact of joining the KIC programme, Caroline Amanor, co-founder of Maku Foods mentioned that KIC’s AgriTech Challenge Pro had led to the growth of her business, citing the insights from the trainings, coaching and skills acquired by being part of the programme.
“We started very small. We were introduced to the KIC programme, and since we joined we have learnt a lot. We were part of the winners for the 2022 AgriTech Challenge Pro competition and through the seed funding we received, we have been able to invest in building the business and purchasing more equipment for processing our ingredients into ready- to cook condiments and spices. KIC helped position our business for growth and investor readiness,” she said. On his part, Nana Opoku Agyeman-Prempeh, co-founder and CEO for Grow For Me mentioned how the funding support received through KIC’s partners has enabled them to scale up their commodity trading business and input financing for their rice farmers in Asutuare.
“We decided to partner with KIC to leverage on their skills, network, expertise and partnerships. We have been able to grow our business substantially and also create employment opportunities for young people.” Speaking about the impact of KIC, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, Executive Director of KIC, mentioned that KIC’s commitment to transforming the agricultural sector through youth employment has led to the creation of 36 businesses through KIC’s programmes. KIC remains committed to supporting scalable business ideas within the agricultural sector, by encouraging young people to see the opportunities within the sector. So far, KIC has trained more than 1500 young people.
Grow For Me is a commodity and input financing, aggregation and trading platforms. It enables individuals to participate in farming and commodity trading.
Maku Foods deals in ready-to-eat foods including shito and green pepper sauce, and also ready-to-use products like Ginger & Garlic paste, onion-pepper paste; chicken, fish, meat marinades; and ‘kelewele’ spice mix.
