In This Brief
What the beVisioneers Global Summit in Stuttgart delivered in May 2026, who was in the room, and how Godfrey Maina Noel’s move from Pioneer Scholar to Steward Scholar opens the road ahead for Kilimora and AgriKonnekt, from the 100+ Accelerator to capital, MRV and ecosystem partners.
The earlier story ended in June 2025 with a Pioneer Project Scholarship and a Year 2 onboarding pack. This one covers the next eleven months, ending in Stuttgart, in the room the fellowship had been building toward since a May 2024 acceptance email. It then looks forward: one of the expert profiles in that room read like a job description for Kilimora’s next step, and it sits within a wider road of opportunities that continues well beyond any one programme.
An invitation earned through progress
On 5 December 2025 the beVisioneers team invited Godfrey to the Global Summit in Stuttgart, 4 to 8 May 2026 including travel days. The email described it as a milestone for “our most engaged and dedicated Fellows who have made significant project progress”. It asked for an RSVP by 14 December, offered round trip travel from the Fellow’s country of residence, and covered visa costs, accommodation and meals. Mercedes-Benz, the programme’s donor, would be in the room.
The numbers show how distinguished the invitation was. Up to 150 Fellows were selected. Across the 100 fellows of the first cohort, 506 of the second and up to 1,000 targeted for the third, we estimate about 1,600 people had entered the fellowship, so roughly one in eleven was invited.
What the summit delivered
The summit ran under the theme “Generations for the Planet”, with the main programme on 6 and 7 May. The impact summary reports 150 Fellows alongside more than 100 business leaders, investors, philanthropists and sustainability experts. Fellows came to showcase their work, receive tailored venture building support and take expert feedback. By the reported figures, nearly all of them did.
The expert side figures are the most consequential for a founder. Most experts said they saw Fellows as strong candidates for hiring, funding or media, and most committed to mentoring. These are commitments to build on, and the follow up is where their value takes shape.
Who was in the room
The speaker booklet profiles 25 experts. The United Kingdom supplied the most, followed by Germany and Switzerland, with Africa represented by South Africa’s Thando Mazomba of OceanHub Africa. By sector, corporate and industry leaders dominated, from Heidelberg Materials, IKEA and Mercedes-Benz to Bupa and Hilti. The full guest list of 7 May 2026 adds philanthropy, public bodies and impact investors.
The experts who matter to AgriKonnekt
For a climate finance founder serving smallholders, the corporate names are context, and a handful of others are leads. Jon Duncan works on nature finance, carbon markets and MRV systems across Africa, which is AgriKonnekt’s core problem. Aparna Shrivastava runs the Climate Reserve at the Aspen Global Change Institute. Inès Mertens leads market development at Impact Europe. Juan Carlos Thomas of TechnoServe leads entrepreneurship and new ventures. We rate how closely each matches AgriKonnekt’s needs, from our reading of their profiles.
The map gives the summit a clear follow up order: MRV and carbon market credibility, then impact capital, then ecosystem access.
From Pioneer to Steward
The fellowship runs three years. Year 1 builds and launches a prototype. Year 2, the Acceleration Year, which Godfrey entered as a Pioneer Scholar in May 2025, is about scaling with a Venture Coach, Smartsheet reporting and a living stipend. The Global Summit invitation arrived in the middle of that year and the summit itself closed it. Becoming a Steward Scholar is the step from building the venture to looking after it: a Fellow who reports, mentors and carries a project forward rather than only launching it.
The capability picture shows the same arc. Compared with January 2025 and June 2025, our estimate puts every dimension above four by May 2026, with the biggest gains in pitching, community co creation and team governance, the exact things a summit and a scholarship cycle test.
The next door: the 100+ Accelerator
At the summit, one of the expert profiles read like a job description for Kilimora’s next step. Andrea Brillembourg is Global Senior Manager at the 100+ Accelerator, where she leads pilots across global consumer goods companies and builds partnerships to scale green technology. The sections below explain the programme, test the fit, and widen the list to twelve people worth a conversation. It is the strongest single route we can see after Stuttgart, and one of several promising routes.
What the 100+ Accelerator is
AB InBev launched the 100+ Accelerator in 2018 to pilot and scale sustainability solutions in supply chains. It now has six corporate partners: AB InBev, The Coca Cola Company, Colgate Palmolive, Danone, Mondelēz International and Unilever. Selected startups run a six month remote programme built around a funded pilot with one partner, backed by a champion inside that company, and the listings say it takes no equity. Cohort 8 offered up to $100,000 in pilot funding to prototype, early user and revenue generating startups. Its challenge areas have included smart agriculture, water stewardship, circular economy and climate action, and the programme reports that more than half of the startups in its first two cohorts won long term contracts with AB InBev.
It is also highly sought after. For Cohort 4, AB InBev reported more than 1,700 submissions and 46 startups chosen.
The Cohort 8 round ran to 10 July 2026, so the next window is Cohort 9. Cohort 7 kicked off in Leuven in March 2026, which suggests selection takes the best part of a year after the deadline.
Where AgriKonnekt fits
AgriKonnekt offers four things a food and beverage supply chain can use: soil carbon measurement and MRV, farmer training, climate wallet payouts to feature phones, and traceability. Partners that buy crops from smallholders, such as Danone, Mondelēz, Unilever and AB InBev, should value those most. Colgate Palmolive offers the more specialised fit.
Twelve doors, starting with Andrea
Andrea is the programme’s own door. The other eleven come from the Global Summit speaker list and each sees AgriKonnekt from a different side: a pilot, MRV credibility, capital, or the ecosystem that makes introductions. Several of them, including Jon Duncan, Aparna Shrivastava and Juan Carlos Thomas, are the same leads identified earlier in this article.
| Expert | Why for AgriKonnekt |
|---|---|
| Andrea Brillembourg, 100+ Accelerator | Runs pilots with major consumer goods partners |
| Katharina Beumelburg, Heidelberg Materials | Leads decarbonisation and new technology at an industrial major |
| Julie Chrysler, Yunus Environment Hub | Social business and circular economy programmes in developing markets |
| Jon Duncan, Sustainable Finance advisory | Nature finance, carbon markets and MRV across Africa |
| Sabina Gros, BPT and Pure Power NOW | Tests climate tech in real industrial settings |
| Pia Heidenmark Cook, former Ingka/IKEA | Former Chief Sustainability Officer, board and advisory roles |
| Ludvig Liljekvist, Ingka Group | Strategic insight for a global retailer with a large supply chain |
| Glyn Richards, Bupa | Group sustainability strategy and decarbonisation |
| Diego Santamaria Razo, Breakthrough Energy | Assesses deeptech ventures for investment |
| Aparna Shrivastava, Aspen Global Change Institute | Runs the Climate Reserve, with climate finance experience |
| Juan Carlos Thomas, TechnoServe | Leads support for entrepreneurs and small businesses |
| Rich Woods, Undaunted | Runs a network of funders and support organisations for climate innovators |
Two patterns stand out. Andrea is the one expert who scores “core” on pilot access, so every other introduction can build toward a pilot brief. And Aparna Shrivastava, Juan Carlos Thomas and Diego Santamaria Razo are the strongest on capital, which complements the pilot funding.
A preparation plan to the next window
With Cohort 9 probably opening around mid-2027, the team has time to apply with field evidence behind the concept.
- An evidence pack. Baseline soil data, farmer numbers, payout records and an MRV method note, written with a procurement reader in mind.
- A one partner pilot brief. One partner and one crop, a named six month outcome and a metric a champion could defend internally.
- Conversations with Andrea first, then the capital names. The ask is feedback on the pilot brief rather than funding.
- Cohort 9 alerts and a standing draft. Subscribing to alerts and keeping a draft application current makes the window a week of editing rather than a month of writing.
What it means for Kilimora
The accelerator is a valuable and distinguished door: about 2.7 per cent of Cohort 4 submissions were selected. It works well as one strand of a wider plan. Four things carry forward from Stuttgart.
First, the summit was earned by project progress, and that evidence is Kilimora’s strongest asset. Second, expert commitments become useful once they are turned into dated actions, with 30 days a sensible horizon. Third, the Steward role carries a responsibility to the next Fellows from East Africa as well as a title. Fourth, the accelerator preparation can run alongside the capital, MRV and ecosystem conversations from the twelve door list, so that the venture keeps moving on several routes at once.
SOURCES: beVisioneers invitation email, 5 December 2025; Global Summit 2026 Experts Speaker Profiles and Full Expert Guestlist, 21 April and 7 May 2026; beVisioneers Global Summit 2026 impact summary (AI generated summary, pending confirmation); Mercedes-Benz Group and beVisioneers programme pages for cohort sizes; Pioneer Scholarship email, 23 May 2025; AB InBev, Record number of startups join the 100+ Accelerator; Mondelēz International, announcement of joining the 100+ Accelerator; 100+ Accelerator programme listings and the Cohort 7 kick off wrap up. Cumulative fellow count, sector grouping, expert relevance, capability scores, partner fit ratings, the preparation timeline and the Cohort 9 window are estimates.
