The Baobab Network offers start-ups $25,000 in funding and two years of tailored support, which includes a dedicated venture partner, in exchange for 10% equity. The ventures team with the network’s portfolio to accelerate growth, build capacity and unlock the next stages of funding to help organizations scale.
- Funding Type: Grant, Capacity Building
- Target countries: All Countries
The Baobab Network
We back early-stage ventures across Africa, founded by Africa’s boldest innovators and the business leaders of the future.We have been working with entrepreneurs across Africa since 2016, and in 2019 we launched our world class accelerator designed to give founders the funding and platform they need to take their companies global.
We offer start-ups $25,000 USD in funding and two years of tailored support, which includes a dedicated venture partner, in exchange for 10% equity. Our ventures team work with our portfolio to accelerate growth, build capacity and unlock the next stages of funding to help companies scale.
Grant FAQs
What’s the eligibility criteria?
We work with early-stage tech start-ups across Africa. What does that mean? If your solution creates or relies on technology to solve a problem, has an MVP and a bit of traction you are welcome to apply.
We don’t expect you to be turning a profit at this stage, but revenue is expected as people paying for your product tells us that you are solving a real market problem.
Do you only back African start-ups?
Yes. We are a tech accelerator for Africa. We don’t mind if your target market is outside the continent, as long as you are based in Africa and are led and run by an African team.
Do we have to be incorporated in Africa?
No. We understand that incorporating in other jurisdictions, such as the US, maybe more favourable for investors, you just need to have a presence in Africa.
Can we apply with just an idea?
We prefer to see tech-oriented start-ups that have built a minimum viable product (MVP) and have some early traction. If you are at the idea stage, you should at least have validated market demand for the product or service. The validation can be in the form of sign-ups from users, a client waiting list that can be verified, offline purchases and other types of evidence confirming that customers are willing to pay for your product.
Do we have to be already incorporated as a company?
No, we can help with the incorporation process.
We have been operational for a while now, would you still consider us early stage?
We understand that it may take time to figure out your product and/or market, what we’d want to see is a business model that has the potential to scale rapidly and achieve strong returns. We also typically prefer being the first investor after family and friends.
Do you only work with start-ups that build software?
No, we will consider any start-up that uses technology to solve crucial problems around them. We are open to other tech-enabled solutions such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as using other existing technology tools to create efficiencies.
Do you focus on any specific sectors?
We are mostly sector agnostic with a preference for sectors that have the potential to create impact i.e. we would unlikely invest in sectors such as gambling, alcohol etc.
Are non-profit organizations eligible for the accelerator programme?
Unfortunately not, we only work with for-profit organisations.
Do you work with solo founders?
Yes, we generally prefer teams to solo founders but are still open to applications from those who don’t have co-founders.
We don’t have a technical founder but our solution works, is this okay?
It’s important to have the ability to build your product in-house and we would want to see this. Having a technical founder is not mandatory but we like to work with a founding team that has the relevant experience and knowledge in their respective field/sector.
We build custom software and websites for companies, can we apply?
At the moment, we can only back tech-creating or tech-enabled businesses with the potential to scale. This would usually not include agencies that provide custom website/app development or digital marketing services.
Method of Application
Interested and qualified start-ups should visit the application portal for more information:
FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE: Make sure you don’t miss out on any loan, grant and employment opportunities. Subscribe to our email updates and join our Telegram Channel.
Source link
