The AFRISE Challenge, a partnership between Concordia University and Hindsight Ventures, offers an opportunity for high-potential African youth and student entrepreneurs to advance their ventures and contribute to economic development. The program's central theme focuses on how young entrepreneurs can help African economies rise, seeking to identify innovators with scalable ideas to solve significant challenges.
Program Benefits
• Accelerator Program: 30 selected founders will participate in a mentorship and leadership development accelerator delivered by successful founders, industry leaders, domain experts, investors, and leaders from the Concordia University and Hindsight Ventures network.
• International Demo Day: The program concludes with a Virtual Demo Day where the top 15 entrepreneurs present to early-stage venture investors and Entrepreneurship Support Organizations to access potential grant and equity-based funding.
• Technology Credits and Support: Each participating startup will receive over $600,000 in technology credits from partners including AWS, Zoho, IBM, Microsoft, Canva, DigitalOcean, and FreshWorks.
Eligibility Criteria
• Age: Applicants must be between 18 and 35 years old.
• Nationality: The program is open to young entrepreneurs from Nigeria, Uganda, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal.
• Idea Stage: The challenge seeks young innovators and entrepreneurs, as individuals or teams, who have a scalable idea to solve a mass challenge. While napkin-stage ideas are accepted, having a prototype or early traction is preferable.
Focus Areas
The program is looking for enterprising youth solving challenges in sectors including, but not limited to:
• Financial Services
• Healthcare
• Agriculture
• Energy / Utility
• Education
• Environment
• Telecommunications
• Arts & Creativity
Program Timeline
• Program Announcement: February 16, 2026
• Applications Open: February 16, 2026
• Application Deadline: March 27, 2026
• Screening Closes: April 3, 2026
• Bootcamp Commences: April 20, 2026
• Bootcamp Ends: May 15, 2026
• Demo Day: May 28, 2026
Program Details
• Program Format: The program is delivered virtually.
• Duration: The bootcamp runs for four weeks.
• Cost: There are no fees to participate in the program.
• Selection Process: Applications are evaluated through a scoring mechanism by a jury of leaders from Concordia University and Hindsight Ventures. 30 startup founders will be selected for the accelerator.
• Language: The bootcamp will be delivered in English. Support will be available to translate certain materials into French for Francophone candidates.
Applications for the AFRISE Challenge 2026 are currently open, with a submission deadline of March 27, 2026. Interested entrepreneurs are encouraged to visit the official AFRISE Challenge website for more detailed information and to complete the application process.