Hello everyone
Welcome to our weekly recap of the big news + funding in Ghana’s startup ecosystem. Here’s a look at the bold moves shaping the ecosystem this week.
- African Golden Food secures $1 million seed investment to develop Africa’s first smart circular agro-food & carbon innovation platform.
- Kola Market and Metaschool AI selected among the debut grantees of GSMA’s Innovation Fund for Impactful AI.
- Zyptyk secures €100,000 as winner of the 2025 AYA Health Innovation Challenge.
- Nyla Bank selected for the C3 Impact Accelerator
- Hubtel names Hollard Ghana’s CEO Patience Akyianu as board chair.
- 3 student-led startups emerge winners of the maiden Hack54 Hackathon.
Accelerator & Incubator
3 student-led startups emerge winners of the maiden Hack54 Hackathon.
Three innovative student-led teams—NovaHQ, PreaVita, and Medi-FI—have emerged as the top winners of the maiden Hack54 Hackathon Series, a four-day challenge dedicated to designing groundbreaking solutions for Ghana’s most pressing healthcare challenges.
Organized by thedsgnjunkies in collaboration with Socialite AF Ltd, the event brought together multidisciplinary teams of young innovators from Ghana’s leading tertiary institutions, including Ashesi University, KNUST, University of Ghana (Legon), and UMaT. Following a highly competitive pitch session, the standout teams recognized for their transformative concepts.
Overall Winner (Best UX Solution & People’s Choice Award)
NovaHQ developed a seamless, intuitive platform to enhance patient–clinician engagement while integrating AI-assisted triage features. The judges praised the platform’s exceptional human-centered design, accessibility, and smooth user experience.
Most Impactful Idea
PreaVita focused on data-driven preventive healthcare. Their solution is a machine learning model capable of accurately predicting the number of cholera cases in each region of Ghana based on existing epidemiological and environmental data. This powerful tool demonstrates how predictive analytics can empower public health authorities to proactively prevent outbreaks.
Best Use of Technology
Medi-FI impressed with its intelligent medication identification platform. The innovation allows users to search for prescribed medicines by simply scanning a picture of the drug, effectively bridging a critical gap in pharmaceutical accessibility, combating counterfeit products, and locating pharmacies with the right supply.
Nyla Bank selected for the C3 Impact Accelerator
Nyla Bank, a Ghanaian digital Islamic bank, has been selected to join the prestigious C3 Impact Accelerator. Based in the UAE, the C3 (Companies Creating Change) program supports early-stage, impact-driven startups to scale their business and maximise their positive contribution to society and the environment.
Through this program, Nyla Bank will receive world-class training in business governance and impact measurement from experts at institutions like HSBC, along with potential equity-free funding and operational perks like tech credits.
Funding
Kola Market and Meta AI selected among the debut grantee of GSMA’s Innovation Fund for Impactful AI.
Ghana’s Kola Market and Metaschool AI have been selected as debut grantees of the GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI, chosen from over 625 applicants. Both startups will receive up to £250,000 in equity-free funding, expert mentorship, and global exposure at the Mobile World Congress.
Kola Market, which offers AI-driven inventory and financing tools for MSMEs, will use the grant to expand feature phone access and enhance two-way voice interactions. The funds will also support integrating mobile money data for credit scoring and piloting AI-guided micro-warehousing.
Metaschool AI, a personalized tutoring platform, will leverage the funding to scale access via USSD and SMS for low-connectivity regions. The grant will also enable the integration of voice support with localized content and the enhancement of video lessons and interactive quizzes.
African Golden Food secures $1 million seed investment to develop Africa’s first smart circular agro-food & carbon innovation platform.
African Golden Food, a Netherlands-Ghana climate-smart agribusiness has secured a $1 million equity investment. The funding comes from Dutch firm FrugalFP B.V. and an Aberdeen-based investor group led by John Lind.
The capital will accelerate the development of what the company claims will be Africa’s first “Smart Circular Agro-Food & Carbon Innovation Vehicle” in Ghana’. Spanning 10,000 hectares, the company combines processing for cassava and sweet potatoes with renewable energy and large-scale agroforestry.
Over the next decade, the company aims to restore 10,000 hectares of degraded land, sequester over 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and create 2,500 rural jobs, establishing a scalable model for climate-smart investment that delivers both food security and measurable environmental impact.
Zyptyk secures €100,000 as winner of the 2025 AYA Health Innovation Challenge.
Zyptyk, the Ghana-based mental health platform, has been crowned the winner of the 2025 AYA Health Innovation Challenge. The startup secured the top prize, which includes a €100,000 grant specifically earmarked to refine, pilot, and integrate its digital tool in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS). The project will kick off with a pilot in the Ashanti Region, with a clear mandate for national adoption and long-term sustainability.
The challenge is part of the AYA Integrated Healthcare Initiative, a strategic collaboration between GIZ (with funding from Bayer, Sanofi, Panorama Global, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), the Ministry of Health, and the Ghana Health Service. The initiative is designed to strengthen sustainable, ready-to-deploy digital health tools that enhance Ghana’s capacity to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases nationwide.
Talent
Hubtel names Hollard Ghana’s CEO Patience Akyianu as board chair.
Hubtel has appointed Hollard Ghana’s CEO Patience Akyianu as Chair of its Board of Directors. She succeeds Hans Nilsson, who steps down after a decade of service. Since joining Hubtel’s Board in 2021, she has contributed to strengthening governance and oversight. Her deep expertise in finance, risk, and regulation makes her the right fit to lead the board into its next phase.
Patience Akyianu brings extensive leadership experience across banking and insurance. Her previous roles include Managing Director of Barclays Bank Ghana (now Absa Bank Ghana) and Chief Financial Officer for Standard Chartered’s Africa regional operations in Johannesburg. She has also served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Ecobank Ghana.
📬 That’s all for this week. Want to feature your startup, funding round, or product launch? Subscribe and email us at info@theinnovationspark.com
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Curated by The Ghana Innovation Journal, tracking Ghana’s startup momentum.
About the Author
Staff Reporter
Staff writer at Ghana Innovation Journal covering innovation, technology and entrepreneurship across Ghana and Africa.