Opportunities
The Africa Startup Initiative Program In Search of 10 Startups Disrupting the Tech Space. Get €15K in Cash
The Africa Startup Initiative Program (ASIP) by Startupbootcamp AfriTech is looking for the nextgen of startups disrupting industry sectors including FinTech, InsureTech, AgriTech, eCommerce, Digital Health, and CleanTech.
This programme is ideal for startups with a mobile tech focus. It is currently backed by anchor partner Telecel Group and additional corporate partners are lining up to engage with startups through pilots and Proof of Concepts projects that can open the doors for longer term commercial agreements.
According to Africa Startup Initiative Program (ASIP), it intends scouting within the next month and the corporate Founding Partners will help determine the key focus areas of the startup applicants.
Corporate Partners are also invited to join the selection committee which determines the final 10 startups that participate in the 3 month ASIP Accelerator Program. This is a unique opportunity to bring startup innovation into your organization, and SBC AfriTech will help facilitate successful pilot projects with your organization.
Since 2017, the programme has accelerated 29 African startups that have set an incredibly high standard for the next program, where 90% are still operating and scaling at impressive rates, 40% have raised follow-on rounds of funding and 50% of the startups raising capital have closed rounds at valuations more than 10 times since Demo Day.
This is a 3 month intensive program designed to support entrepreneurs scale their industry-changing technology businesses.
Applications will soon open and the 10 startups in the program will receive benefits valued at more than €500,000, including credits from AWS, Google Cloud Services, and many more. SBC also invests €15,000 in cash.
Other benefits in the Africa Startup Initiative Program include;
Investor Access – Where you meet the most active VCs and Angel investors in your industry from around the world
Masterclasses – Expert-led sessions covering all scaling fundamentals – from business model canvas, lean methodology to fundraising
Living Expenses – €15,000 in cash per team to cover living expenses during the program. Find out more on the benefits.
Applications to the Africa Startup Initiative Programme will open on 15th March and close on the 14th May. Demo Day is 23rd of September, 2021. NOTE: StartupBootcamp takes 8% equity in the companies. Find out more.
Opportunities
Apply to the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award & Win US$40,000
Africa Young Innovators for Health Award have launched their maiden challenge designed to highlight and support the work of trailblazing young entrepreneurs developing health innovations on the continent. The deadline for submitting applications is the 31st of March, 2021.
Organizers of the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award want to, with this initiative, encourage business entrepreneurship and help advance promising health care solutions that support and empower healthcare workers – those on the frontline of delivering healthcare to communities.
They therefore look out for innovative healthcare solutions directed at supporting, protecting, and empowering healthcare workers through solutions such as training programmes, providing protective equipment or improving the quality of healthcare.
Who qualifies to apply?
- Interested persons wanting to apply must be between the ages of 18 and 35 at the time of submitting applications for the Award and must also be a citizen or resident of an African country.
- Successful applicants will have to demonstrate how their inventive healthcare solution is scalable, measurable and makes a lasting impact on healthcare workers.
How applications are evaluated
Applicants need to show their innovation is scalable, measurable, have a sustainable and positive impact on healthcare workers and that their innovation is commercially viable and at least at the proof of concept stage.
Submissions will be evaluated based on the following:
- Innovation: The solution must have an innovative character, meaning it must break new ground and meet a challenge in its city, region or country.
- Scalability: The applicant must show the innovation can be scaled up and used in a wider region of the country, neighboring countries or across the continent.
- Impact: Your solution must show a measurable and sustainable impact on health. Importantly, the health solution needs to show not only that it supports, equips, protects and trains healthcare workers but that this is measurable and can be maintained and is therefore sustainable.
- Commercial viability: The innovative solution must be commercially viable, so they have to see that it is a business proposition, that it can compete effectively with its competitors and make a profit.
Benefits of the African Young Innovators for Health Award
Grand prize – $40,000
Second prize – $20,000
Third prize – $15,000
Participants will enter a 3-month Business Mentorship program from successful entrepreneurs.
If relevant, successful applicants will get technical support with Intellectual Property protection.
You will gain exposure and recognition from global healthcare leaders and the public.
The Africa Young Innovators for Health award is ably supported by IFPMA, a research-based pharmaceutical companies and associations across the globe and SpeakUp Africa, a policy and advocacy action tank dedicated to catalysing leadership, enabling policy change, and increasing awareness for sustainable development in Africa. APPLY HERE
