Washington, D.C. – January 31, 2025 – Halcyon is proud to announce its collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) highlighting their shared commitment to combat food insecurity and accelerate transformative change in Africa through innovation in agricultural technology. This collaboration has already identified 10 visionary African startup founders who are developing impactful solutions to the region’s most pressing challenges in food insecurity. The Climate Resilience and Food Security in Africa Fellowship program will kick off with a one-week in-person residency in Nairobi, Kenya. Following this, participants will engage in several months of virtual programming. The program will culminate with a second residency, which will involve another immersive, in-person experience for this cohort.

The Fellowship focuses on tech solutions targeting climate resilience and food security across Africa, including but not limited to climate-smart agriculture and food systems, water technology, blue economy (the sustainable use of ocean resources), renewable energy, green building, and climate data. The founders will receive training on investment readiness, product-market fit, and leadership, as well as access to technical support and credits from AWS. They will also be connected to a network of climate-focused early-stage investors and mentors for further support.

By focusing on AgTech ventures, Halcyon and AWS are enabling a new wave of African startups committed to improving nutrition, increasing agricultural yields, creating innovative agricultural finance solutions, deploying smart climate adaptation strategies, and expanding the trade and delivery of food to vulnerable populations.

“Through AWS’s cloud technology, Halcyon is empowering entrepreneurs to turn their bold ideas into impactful solutions that will drive lasting change across Africa,” said Carolyn Vigil, Social Responsibility Impact Leader at AWS. “I’m especially excited about this collaboration because it focuses on Africa’s unique challenges and opportunities. Together, we’re nurturing the next generation of innovators who are tackling the intersection of agriculture, health, and resilience, paving the way for a more sustainable future for vulnerable communities across the continent.”

Halcyon aims to expand its successful programs, identifying even more talented founders throughout the continent who are committed to driving sustainable change. These startups will benfit from Halcyon’s robust support infrastructure, including mentorship, access to AWS’s world-class cloud services, and connections to a global network of investors, industry leaders, and policymakers.

“We deeply value AWS’ support in working with us to strategically strengthen organizational capacity and scale impactful AgTech businesses across Africa,” said Mercy Erhiawarien, Senior Manager of Intensives at Halcyon. “Halcyon has been supporting founders on the continent for nearly a decade. Africa faces pressing issues such as food insecurity, climate change, and health disparities. These challenges require resilient and innovative solutions, which is where local founders play a crucial role. Halcyon has consistently worked alongside these entrepreneurs, providing them with the support they need to scale their businesses and create long-lasting change. This collaboration is vital for empowering local founders who are developing solutions that tackle food insecurity, promote resilience, and advance health equity. Together, we’re building a future of innovation that will transform Africa’s agricultural landscape for generations to come.”

With funding from AWS, Halcyon’s 2025 program will identify and scale the most promising AgTech ventures across Africa. These businesses will play a critical role in building food security, improving health outcomes, and enabling resilience across the continent. Halcyon remains committed to its mission of accelerating transformative change in Africa and is excited to continue working with AWS to bring these solutions to life.

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About AWS

Since 2006, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any workload, and it now has more than 240 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, media, and application development, deployment, and management from 114 Availability Zones within 36 geographic regions, with announced plans for 12 more Availability Zones and four more AWS Regions in New Zealand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com

About Halcyon

Halcyon accelerates the impact-driven future of business. Since 2014, Halcyon’s fellowships for early-stage social entrepreneurs have provided space, community, and access—infusing support at a critical juncture where many impact-driven startups fail. Halcyon is focused on serving social entrepreneurs with ventures in Health, Climate, and EquityTech—three verticals that drive equity and inclusivity in society. Halcyon’s support includes tailored business training for leadership, product-market fit, and investment readiness, leadership coaching, and additional resources to help Halcyon founders scale their ventures. www.halcyonhouse.org

If you have questions about the cohort, please contact Elizabeth Osho, Senior Manager of Communications at Halcyon, at e.osho@halcyonhouse.org who can arrange interviews or help with queries relating to publicity.