Kenya’s ifarm360 & Egypt’s Tobadaa named among winners of UNWTO Global Startup Competition

Kenya’s ifarm360 and Egypt’s Tobadaa have been named among winners of UNWTO Global Startup Competition for their unique contributions to sustainable and responsible tourism in the UNWTO SDGs Global Startup Competition.

 Ifarm360 is a digital crowd farming platform that brings together farmers, investors and markets to enable farming as a business. The platform offers anyone a chance to invest in farming investment opportunities with a guaranteed return on investment to build a food secure world and empower farmers across Kenya.

Tobadaa connects travelers to tour guides and locals using their own cars to book tours, share experiences and make money

Tobadaa’s mission is to save time, money, safety for the travelers and help them know more about the places, countries, hidden places from the locals from those communities.

The two are part of the 25 chosen winners from 18 countries to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among the 25 winning startups, nine are from the Americas, eight from Europe, six from Asia and the Pacific, and two from Africa and the Middle East.

Potential for a better future

“The winners show the power of new ideas for transforming our sector”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili in recognizing tourism’s potential to contribute to all Sustainable Development Goals. He added: “By embracing innovation, we can realise this potential and build a better future for people and planet through tourism. I congratulate them all and look forward to seeing these startups grow and deliver positive change.”

Support and Guidance

The winning startups will now be given expert support and backing to develop further, including through guided mentorship programmes from Amadeus, Google, IE University and FarCo, and tailored mentorship sessions from Mastercard and ClarkeModet.

The winners will also be invited to take part in a pitching event, to be hosted by Wakalua within the framework of Spain’s International Tourism Fair (FITUR). Another pitching event will take place at the Tourism Tech Adventures Forum, due to be held in Qatar in collaboration with Qatar Airways and Qatar National Tourism Council, another partner for the project.

Furthermore, the winners will benefit from access to all UNWTO’s collaborators for the competition, opening the door for potential game-changing pilots and networking opportunities with Amazon Web Services, Globant, BBVA, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and IDB Lab, Telefonica, Plug and Play, the Advanced Leadership Foundation, Impact Hub, mentorDay and the destination partners for the Competition.

The winners and the SDG that the startup will help advance are as follows: