Ethiopian agricultural startup Lersha received $100,000 from MIT Solve to expand its work supporting smallholder farmers with access to finance, agricultural inputs, advisory services and markets.
Lersha was among 10 innovators selected for the 2026 MIT Solve Solver Class. Together, the 10 winners received $1 million in funding to scale solutions addressing major global challenges. Each team received $100,000, along with access to MIT Solve’s global network and resources.
The recognition gives Lersha additional support to strengthen services for farmers who often face limited access to finance, reliable agricultural information, quality inputs, insurance and structured markets.
Expanding access for smallholder farmers
Lersha received the Heifer Prize for Smallholder Agricultural Transformation, supported by Heifer International. Its selection was announced in New York during the MIT Solve 10th Anniversary Global Challenge, held alongside the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week.
Led by Abrhame Endrias, Lersha operates a platform that brings several agricultural services together. These include climate-smart advisory, mechanisation, quality inputs, insurance, finance and market linkages.
The company combines digital tools with a last-mile agent network to reach farmers in rural communities. Its mobile and web applications, agent tools, dashboards and multilingual call centre help connect farmers with services.
Lersha has digitally profiled nearly 380,000 farmers. The platform uses farm, geolocation, production and behavioural data to support credit scoring and service delivery.
Its financing model also links credit with agricultural activities. Farmers can receive financing in the form of inputs and mechanisation, while repayment is connected to aggregation and market linkages. This closed-loop approach is designed to reduce lending risks while helping farmers improve productivity and market participation.
Farmers registered on the platform can access climate-smart advisory, market information, fertiliser recommendations and finance.
MIT Solve backs solutions with global potential
The 2026 Solver Class was selected from more than 1,000 applications across 110 countries as part of MIT Solve’s 10th Anniversary Global Challenge.
MIT Solve Executive Director Hala Hanna said identifying strong solutions was only the beginning of creating lasting impact.
“For innovation to create lasting impact, it must be trusted, funded, adopted, and embedded in the institutions, markets, policies, and infrastructure that shape people’s lives,” Hanna said.
Founded in 2015, MIT Solve has run more than 100 challenges and supported over 470 innovators. Its network has mobilised more than $85 million in funding, while its innovators have reached more than 430 million people and raised over $1.4 billion.
For Lersha, the funding provides further support for a model focused on making agricultural services more accessible to smallholder farmers across Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa.
