Bees soft-landing program

Are you an African startup or SME that wants to develop its business in Europe? Apply now to our 3 months Bees Soft-landing Programme in Europe!

About the programme

The “BEES” programme powered by EiA encourages and eases the mobility of entrepreneurs from African countries to Europe (France and then other countries) through various modules. The programme promotes skills development, skills transfer as well as the internationalisation of innovative solutions!

The aim of the call for application is to select 10 SMEs in order to help them navigate the complex and important path of internationalisation to Europe.

The programme lasts 3 months. Laureates will have to start the programme in the Paris Region (Bond’innov incubator) but will be free to continue in another European incubator or in any place of their choice after the first month.

Benefits of the Bees soft-landing program

Our 3-months soft-landing programme offers the following services :

• Support in obtaining a Schengen visa and administrative support.
• In-site accommodation available on demand at preferential rates.
• Intensive bootcamp at Bond’innov where the laureates will attend various training sessions and participate in social events to meet the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Free access to the incubator co-working space during 3 months
• Support in booking specialized business meetings, tailored to the needs of the laureates.
• Assistance if the laureates intend to internationalize to another European country.

Eligibility criteria

• Have at least 2 employees and/or co-founders.
• Have a turnover of at least EUR 15.000 in 2020.
• Have a venture which is at least 2 years old.
• Have their headquarters based in an African country.

The selection process

The selection will take place in 2 phases. First, about 20 projects will be pre-selected based on their application form.

Then, they will be evaluated based on uploaded deliverables (video, pitch, international business plan etc…) and 10 laureates will be chosen to benefit from the Bees soft-landing programme.

The jury will evaluate the projects according to the following criteria: Business model; Business potential ; Financial stability ; Potential of international development

Timeline

• Launch of the call for applications – April 23, 2021
• Close of the call for applications – June 14, 2021
• Pre-selection of the 20 projects – July 19, 2021
• Selection of the 10 projects – August 9, 2021
• Start of the Bees soft-landing program – September 20, 2021
• End of the Bees soft-landing program – December 17, 2021

Bees soft-landing program