SEED Program Graduates 28 Startups from Shaggar City, Set to Award $50K in Grants

The Sustainable Employment through Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) program, a five-year initiative funded by the Mastercard Foundation, graduated its fifth cohort of 28 startups from Shaggar City last Saturday. The program, led by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) in partnership with Orbit Innovation Hub, held its graduation ceremony at the Skylight Hotel.

The latest cohort was conducted across three cities: Shaggar (30) in Oromia, Bahir Dar (32) in Amhara, and Hawassa (13) in Sidama Regional State, accommodating 75 founders.

“The program welcomed 75 founders, of which an impressive 95% were women,” said Hassen Hussein (PhD), CEO of Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) at the graduation ceremony.

With just two dropouts from Shaggar City, the latest cohort exhibited resilience and commitment, according to EDI’s CEO. 

The SEED program targets the creation of one million dignified jobs across Ethiopia over a period of five years. Running until 2028, it supports startups with training, funding, and market access with particular emphasis on women-led businesses. It also supplies equipment and skills training to Technical and Vocational Training Institutions.

Dawit Teshome, Program Lead at Orbit Innovation Hub, said 25 of the 28 graduating startups from the latest cohort are in the process of securing a total of $50,000 in grants. 

“Orbit will disburse $2,000 grant for each startup based on performance and progress. Unlike previous cohorts, this round has seen multiple startups qualify for grants,” he told Shega.  

Now in its second year, SEED operates across 18 cities, hoping to nurture entrepreneurs who can create sustainable jobs and drive economic transformation. To date, the program has trained and graduated 377 startups, with 200 of them securing a combined $400,000 in grant funding. 

Graduating startups span Innovation and Incubation Management Systems (IIMS), manufacturing, services, and food processing.

Tsion Seifu, founder of Liyu Concentrated Detergents Paste, was among the graduates in the latest cohort. She hopes to make her detergents stand out in the market with a heavy concentration of washing chemicals, unique packaging and locally sourced inputs.

" Less waste and more cleanliness is our motto," Tsion told Shega.

The graduation event also included a panel discussion where participants heard from Samrawit Mersiehazen, founder of Samra Leather, and Ruth Yohannes, founder of the Talent firm, who shared their perspectives on business growth and team development.