FCMB's AgriTech Program
Zimara runs the programme, taking tech-enabled agriculture businesses through assessment, coaching and a Demo Day where the strongest compete for funding.
Zimara is a bold new model for venture development and growth in Africa.
We work with businesses on the part that's holding them back: the numbers, the operations, the governance. Then we engineer the growth from there.
The Insight Page: a permanent record of how far a business has come. Currently running FCMB's AgriTech Program.
We don't run generic training. We work on what's actually blocking growth.
Every business is stuck on something different. One can't model its own cash flow. Another can't keep operations steady as it scales. A third has revenue but no governance a lender would accept.
So we build each programme around a theme: the thing that matters for that group of businesses.
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Financial Modelling
Know your numbers well enough to plan, price and raise.
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Operational Excellence
Run consistently as you grow.
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Governance
Put the structure in place that partners and lenders expect.
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Investment Readiness
Get fundable, and be able to show it.
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Resilience
Survive the shocks that close good businesses.
We assess against the theme, close the gaps with courses and real mentors, then hold the business to specific changes and check the evidence. What comes out the other side is a stronger business, and a record that proves it.
How it works
1 of 4- Assess
- Act
- Prove
- Progress
Measure the business against the theme. No guesswork.
Courses and one-on-one mentors close the gaps we found.
The business commits to specific changes and shows evidence. We verify it.
It all lands on an Insight Page: a permanent record of how far they've come.
Thousands of African businesses are already trading, already earning, already employing people. And still can't get funded.
Not because they're weak. Because nobody can afford to check.
We close that gap from both ends. The business gets genuinely stronger. The funder gets something they can verify.
The conversation moves from can we trust this?
to how much?
Where it's already running.
The AgriBridge Facility
A guarantee structure built with FCMB and proposed to IFC, designed to let a bank lend to businesses with real revenue but no building or equipment to pledge as security.
Zimara is what makes that work: we check every business before the money moves, and watch it after.
Who we work with
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Funders and DFIs
A shortlist of businesses already assessed and verified.
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Corporates and banks
Turn the SMEs already on your books into a pipeline you can lend to, under your brand.
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Government and agencies
Business support across a whole sector, with results you can measure and defend.
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Ventures
Fix what's holding you back. Leave with proof, not just a pitch deck.
Partners on the FCMB AgriTech Program
Co-funded by the European Union
One million African businesses strengthened in five years.
Zimara is owned and built by Heave Ventures, a Lagos venture studio that designs funding structures for African businesses.
Our software scores. Our people verify. A business is certified only when the evidence holds up.