Accelerate Africa is a dedicated program for Africa's bold and visionary founders who are in the earliest stages of building global businesses to solve the continent's biggest challenges. Drawing on over a decade of experience supporting successful African startups, the initiative is designed to provide targeted support to help founding teams scale their ventures from Africa to the world.
Program Overview
The program is structured to provide intensive, focused support to a select group of entrepreneurs.
• Duration: 12 weeks
• Cohort Size: 10 founders
• Primary Goal: To equip founders with the necessary tools and knowledge to build global businesses.
Key Focus Areas
The curriculum is built around five critical areas of support, with guidance provided by top experts in each field:
• Storytelling: Craft a compelling mission, vision, and story of impact.
• People & Ops: Assemble, motivate, and lead a high-performing team.
• Go to Market: Clarify a strategy and milestones toward $1M in revenue.
• Product Development: Build a product that your customers can’t live without.
• Fundraising: Fundraising: Prepare for demo day and investor conversations with leading regional and global investors.
Program Benefits
The program distinguishes itself from typical accelerators through its tailored approach:
• Personalized Support: The 10 selected founders receive one-on-one support from advisors who have built, advised, invested in, and exited multiple successful businesses in Africa.
• Founder-Centric Design: The program is designed to meet the specific needs of founders in Africa, offering workshops, coaching sessions, and office hours for tech, legal, and finance.
• Peer Community: Participants build a strong community with other founders facing similar challenges, leveraging each other as a network of support.
Investment Structure
The program's funding model is designed to be founder-friendly:
• No Equity for Participation: Unlike most accelerators, the program does not take equity upon admittance.
• Optional Investment: The Accelerate Africa fund offers an optional investment to all founders at the end of the program.
• Potential for Further Funding: After the program, the affiliated fund, Future Africa, may invest a pre-seed or seed stage check of $250,000 - $500,000, following its standard investment process which includes due diligence and an investment committee vote.
This initiative offers a distinct opportunity for early-stage entrepreneurs to access hands-on operating experience and a powerful network. It is structured to accelerate business growth by focusing on core operational pillars and providing a clear, supportive path toward securing investment and achieving global scale.