Catalyst Fund

Catalyst Fund is a Nairobi-based accelerator and seed fund focused on early-stage technology startups in Africa building inclusive fintech and climate solutions for underserved populations, supported by JPMorgan Chase Foundation, UK aid, and other development finance partners. The fund was established with a mission to advance financial inclusion and climate resilience by backing founders who are building products specifically for the roughly one billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia who lack access to formal financial services, insurance, and climate adaptation tools. Catalyst Fund provides very early-stage capital of $50,000 to $150,000 per company alongside an intensive venture-building support programme that includes product development, market research, customer discovery, and fundraising preparation. The fund targets companies in fintech areas including mobile payments, digital credit, insurance access, savings products, and remittances, alongside an emerging climate resilience track. Portfolio companies include Turaco, the Uganda-based embedded insurance platform, and MarketForce, the Kenyan B2B commerce platform. Note: the original directory also lists Chipper Cash as a portfolio company, but Chipper Cash's primary institutional investors include Ribbit Capital and Bezos Expeditions, and Catalyst Fund's role should be independently verified. Beyond these original investments, the portfolio includes dozens of African and South Asian fintech and climate tech startups.