NSSF to sink additional Ugx4.8bn in its Hi-innovator program

The National Social Security Fund has announced an additional 64 local businesses that will be considered for seed funding worth Ugx4.8bn from its innovation program dubbed Hi-innovator.

The additional funding will bring the total number of businesses that have benefitted from the program’s seed funding to 306 since its inception in 2021.

Alex Rumanyika, NSSF head of strategy, said, “Our goal for the Hi-innovator program is to invest in at least 500 enterprises by 2025. The businesses selected today are an affirmation that we are on the right track to reach that target within the set timeframe,” he said.

Rumanyika added that the selected businesses would be subjected to a final due diligence process before they receive the funds to ensure efficiency and that they fully comply with the program requirements. Each business will receive shs75 million seed funding upon successful due diligence.

The winning businesses were announced in Kampala following a pitching exercise where a panel of entrepreneurship experts assessed their ability to profitably scale when provided with the right technical and financial assistance, potential to create work opportunities for young people, and the competency of the management teams over a period of time.

Businesses selected were from the agriculture, digital economy, and light manufacturing sectors.

They included cosmetic and beauty companies that use plants and animal products as raw materials, waste management companies, clothing manufacturers, and website and app developers.

Richard Zulu, the founder at Outbox – the Lead project Implementing partner, emphasized that the above sectors were given priority this time around because of their potential to create dignified and fulfilling work opportunities among youth and women.

Some of the selected businesses for seed funding include Damba Kezaala Enterprises a dynamic agricultural venture dedicated to empowering agropreneurs and agricultural entities, Frotexured Limited which manufactures organic beauty and hair products and InfoSec Technologies Limited developers of the SmartCase Manager, a Ugandan-made, holistic Law Firm Management System tailored to streamline and automate business processes for law firms and legal departments among others.

The Hi-Innovator Programme is an initiative by NSSF in partnership with Mastercard Foundation that aims to create an eco-system where indigenous Small and Growing Businesses can be supported to mature into viable businesses.

It is implemented by Outbox with further support from other fifteen enterprise support organizations that include Stanbic Business Incubator, Makerere University Innovation and Incubation Center, MUBS Entrepreneurship, Uganda Christian University, and others.