In an effort to increase exposure of African startups to global investors and resources, Africa Startup Ecosystem announced the launch of the first digital accelerator for the region. The accelerator program begins with a full startup development boot camp covering ideation, product development, marketing, customer acquisition and funding.
The boot camp is followed by workshop keynotes from Lean Launchpad, Forbes list entrepreneurs and key investors. The program concludes with a demo day where the top ten companies pitch in front of judges from across the region for top prizes.
“The future is digital, so startup ecosystems in emerging markets need to take advantage of that with programs like this one” says Christine Souffrant Ntim, “we launched digital accelerators for entrepreneurs of Africa and the diaspora to close the resource gap and diversify global startup success stories”.
The pilot accelerator program on January 9-10, 2017 will accept 100 startups out of an applicant pool of thousands. Post the program, data and insights will be sent to regional influencers, incubators and accelerators to support startup innovation programming in the future.
Africa Startup Ecosystem is the home of Africa’s entrepreneurial community hosting digital events, boot camps, accelerators and startup expos for the region. It is a subsidiary of Global Startup Ecosystem, which provides digital programs for startup ecosystems in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.
