31 AgroInnova, with its product AKOKOTAKRA, is an enterprise mobile and web-based management system that allows poultry farmers to record, monitor, and track their operations in real time. With this innovative and comprehensive tool, poultry farm managers have their farms “at their fingertips” for more effective and efficient operations. AKOKOTAKRA will help poultry farmers in Ghana monitor and grow their output. QualiTrace developed a product to authenticate, track, and trace crop protection products used by farmers to increase their yields. Using a mobile validation system, the product aims to ensure that farmers and consumers in Ghana can identify genuine farm inputs and quality food produce. This tool will also help to thwart counterfeiting agricultural inputs in Ghana, a problem that accounts for the loss of about $1.5 trillion globally on an annual basis. In addition to the winners of the KIC AgriTech Challenge, four other promising business teams who competed were funded and supported by KIC partners MEST and Premium Bank of Ghana. The KIC continues to support winners from previous years as needed. The first start-up company to win the Agritech Challenge was TroTro Tractor Limited in 2016. TroTro Tractor Limited has developed a platform that uses mobile phones and GPS units to connect farmers to tractor operators within their vicinity, enabling them to request, schedule, and pre-pay for tractor services. The platform gives farmers greater access to mechanized farming equipment. Since winning the AgriTech Challenge, TroTro Tractor has grown to seven employees and signed up over 30,000 farmers in Ghana for its tractor sharing services, based on a similar model as the ride-share company Uber, but used for tractors. The company has also secured additional investments in order to continue scaling their successful business. ACCELERATION The Acceleration pillar of the KIC supports the development of promising small and medium sized enterprises through technical assistance and capital investment. After a stringent screening process, selected companies receive a range of support aimed at helping them grow. In 2017, KIC launched its first Business Booster program. We selected nine Ghanaian-owned businesses which have operated within the agriculture sector of Ghana for at least three years. The five-month program entailed two, week-long business development boot camps in Accra, a mentorship support program, and engagement with investors and wealth advisors. During the program, the participating ventures validated and refined their business models, prepared for growth, and gained access capital to build their companies. The KIC collaborates with Uncharted, a U.S.-based nonprofit, to lead the Business Booster execution and curriculum delivery, and Impact Hub Accra, a collaborative co-working space, to provide local expertise in logistics, operations, and recruitment for the Business Booster program. For more information about the Kosmos Innovation Center, visit www.kosmosinnovationcenter.com.  A KIC participant poses in front of a tractor. The first winner of the KIC Agritech Challenge was TroTro Tractor, a company that connects farmers with tractor operators. I N C U B AT I O N P R O G R A M AT A G L A N C E 270 ASPIRING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS PARTICIPATED IN KIC $950K INVESTED IN KIC STARTUPS BY KOSMOS AND EXTERNAL INVESTORS 8 STARTUPS LAUNCHED 79 JOBS CREATED