GIZ-SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2023 for african startups

Are you the founder of a tech start-up and want to change how the agriculture and food tech industries operate? Do you have a solution that will increase industry sustainability and profitability while also giving value chain participants greater power? Do you need assistance learning how to attract more funding, attract more customers, and make a bigger impact?

Then this unique (and free!) acceleration programme is for you!

What do we provide?

African tech start-ups in the food, livestock, and agriculture industries can take advantage of a whole year of specialized support through the SAIS Investment Readiness Programme (IRP), which will help you become investor-ready and scale your company. (Offered in French and English)

Regular sessions of personalized coaching with local and international experts

tailored to your unique requirements, during which time we will create and put into action ideas and tactics for quick growth.

Access to online training (tailored)
Structured around several key themes to develop your start-up further, e. g. Pitch Training, Growth Strategy, Data Analytics & Management, Term Sheet, Valuation, Market Analysis, Marketing & Sales, and so on.

Integrating you into a local hub (optional)

To get you a workplace for 6 months and facilitate contacts with major players in the local start-up scene, if needed.

Access to additional services
to optimize certain key areas of your business, e. g. legal advice, online marketing, digital product optimization, design, and coding.

Access to the GIZ network
of our global presence, local expertise, far-reaching networks, and years of experience working with the private sector, investors, and business partners. The network can help you to improve the visibility and contacts with start-ups nationally and internationally through participation in national, regional, and international events dedicated to African entrepreneurs.

Add-on: Programme for Female Leaders
In addition to the above-mentioned, we offer special support for female founders and women in leading positions of the start-ups:

• Our Female Leader Circle meets with the aim of bringing women in leadership positions together, networking and learning from each other. Input sessions on topics that are of special interest for female leaders serve as a starting point for discussion.
• A bi-annual Female Founders Award recognizes the achievement of female founder

Program Benefits

The Investment Readiness program includes:

• Weekly advisory and coaching sessions

Weekly virtual coaching and consulting sessions are used to design and implement with startups strategies and measures for quick development and scaling, product innovation and improvement, leadership, and business management operations.

• Additional services

Access to additional services to optimize particular startup segments (such as legal counsel, marketing, coding, product optimization, etc.) based on the startup’s commitment.

Hub integration

Integration of the selected startups in one of our partner hubs in their home country in order to facilitate their visibility and establish contact with relevant actors in the local startup scene.

Access to GIZ-SAIS network

Access to investors and business partners from the GIZ-SAIS network.

Extended services

Add-on services for female entrepreneurs.

Meet-up events

Up to three in-person meet-up events. At the moment the plan is to start the IRP with a big SAIStival Event in Nairobi, Kenya which will serve as a Demo Day for the current cohort and as kick-off workshop for the new 2023 cohort.

Who is this For?

You need to fulfill the requirements listed below in order to be qualified for the SAIS Investment Readiness Programme:

Legal form

• You have to be registered and operate in Africa
• You have to provide a certificate of registration

Team (founders)

• You must have a founding team of at least two people who work ideally full time for the start-up
• Your founding and management team should have entrepreneurial and technical experience in their area of operation

Digital product/service

• You must have a viable digital product that positively impacts the incomes of its customers
• Your product must have a positive impact on the African AgTech, FoodTech or livestock sector (vertical sectors that have an influence can be accepted like eCommerce, FinTech, Logistics, EdTech etc)

Market access and traction

• You must have launched your digital product at least six months before the application period
• Your start-up has to provide evidence of traction (customer base, first revenue)

Business model

• Your start-up should have an easily understandable and convincing business model.
• Your start-up should have a clear statement of the problem, clear digital solution, clear customer segment, and clear revenue stream.

Add-ons (But not musts)

• You have women in your founding team or as senior managers
• You or one of your founding team members has an IT background
• You and your founding team members have previous start-up experience
• With your product you target a vulnerable group of customers

Related Post: Monthly legit opportunities you can apply for

Guidelines and Advice for the Application

• Please submit an online application by selecting the “apply” option below on or before October 31, 2022.
• Start the process early and pay close attention to your pitch deck and video pitch (maximum 2 minutes).
• To prevent being excluded from consideration during the pre-selection process, kindly supply all the needed information.

• You can apply in English or French:
  • Apply in English
  • Apply in French

For more information visit the official website

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