Lessons on the Journey from Lab to Market: Venturing-Out with Manhat and Yieldsapp

On 14 June, the Accelerate for Impact Platform invited scientists, innovators, and stakeholders from CGIAR and beyond to take part in the Venture-Out Event: A4IP Startup Showcase. This interactive webinar, now available to watch below, promoted insights on the journey from lab to market for two innovative agri-food technologies who took part in last year’s AgriTech4Morocco Innovation Challenge.

The two startups, Manhat, a natural water distillation technology, and Yieldsapp, an AI-based agronomic management platform, were joined by CGIAR scientists Maha al-Zu’bi (Agriculture Water Solutions Researcher at IWMI) and Ajit Govind (Senior Climatologist and Systems Modeler at ICARDA) to explore how science can accelerate the impact of these technologies for sustainable agriculture and climate action.

The presentations of Manhat and Yieldsapp, followed by a Q&A with CGIAR experts, generated common lessons from their experience scaling innovations from lab to market:

1. Scientific expertise, like that of CGIAR, can accelerate the development of these technologies

2. Modularity can be the pathway to scalability

3. Startups must strategize to ensure they can reach every farmer