The Social & Inclusive Business Camp 2021 for young African Social Entrepreneurs

The Social & Inclusive Business Camp is an acceleration and capacity building program dedicated to entrepreneurs presenting a project with an impact on the African continent and having the desire to develop their activity (scaling up).

It is a hybrid support program, comprising:

• 3 months of remote coaching on a dedicated online platform, alternating interactive virtual classes with international experts and educational resources to be consulted independently;
• 1 week of intensive Bootcamp in Marseille , France, in partnership with the EMERGING Valley Summit (event dedicated to emerging innovations between Europe and Africa);
• The possibility for each participant to be followed by a mentor , experienced alumni of the program; 
• Networking , through integration into an active and ambitious international community of 200 entrepreneurs and networking with investors and financial partners during the Bootcamp.

Since the first edition in 2017, the SIBC has supported 200 entrepreneurs with an impact on the African continent in their scaling up, the measurement of their social performance and their preparation for fundraising.

The program is organized around 4 key themes: 

• Leadership, governance and team: better define its purpose and act, structure its
• governance and organize its teams for successful growth;
• Scale up: adapt your business model and build your scale up strategy to multiply its impact;
• ESG & Impact: define its ESG policy (Environmental, Social and Good Governance criteria) & Impact and measure its social performance;
• Investment preparation: specify your financing needs, understand investors’ expectations and prepare your fundraising. 

Eligibility criteria:

To apply, the company must meet all of these criteria:  

• Be a legally registered business;
• Justify a positive impact in Africa: social or environmental impact, activity serving vulnerable populations (women, people with disabilities, refugees, etc.) and / or creating jobs for these populations;
• Justify first customers, a turnover and a balanced economic model or a medium-term profitability objective;
• Have a desire for growth and present a scaling up strategy taking into account the maximization of social or environmental impact.

The candidate representing the company, designated here by the term “project leader”, must be the founder, co-founder, manager or at least in a position to make strategic decisions for the company.

Will not be eligible:

• Individual applications; 
• Associations that do not have an economic model or profitability objective;
• Public and parapublic organizations;
• Companies at the project stage (without first income, prototype or proof of concept). 

Calendar :

• May 21 – July 3, 2021: submission of applications
• July 19, 2021: examination of the applications and selection of the 40 participants selected by the consortium and selection committee
• End of July 2021: announcement of the selected candidates
• End of August 2021: start of the program and distance training 
• Beginning of December 2021: Intensive one-week bootcamp in Marseille and participation in the EMERGING Valley summit

This schedule is given as an indication and may be subject to change, in particular subject to the evolution of the health crisis linked to COVID-19.

Submission of applications:

The application must be completed on this platform and must consist of: 

• An application form to fill out (questions about the project leader, the company, its structure, its impact and its scaling-up strategy); 
• Proof of legal registration of the company (registration document, articles of association, etc.) 
• Financial statements for the last 3 years (or if a younger company, since its creation)
• Detailed CV of the project leader 
• As an option, a pitch-deck or a presentation of your company (optional)

How to Apply:

If you are interested in applying for this opportunity, kindly follow the link below to apply

Click here to apply for the Social & Inclusive Business Camp 2021

Application Deadline: July 3, 2021

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