We are excited to announce the launch of our Investment Readiness Programme (IRP) 2024. The programme is offered by ‘Scaling Digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups (SAIS)’; a project executed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We offer a year-long tailor-made support for startups to raise investments and scale up their business! At the heart of SAIS IRPs is a mission to identify, nurture, and scale start-ups that want to raise investment, reach more customers, and have a significant impact in the agriculture and food tech industry in Africa.
The SAIS Programme is open to start-ups registered in Africa, working in Africa, and offering scalable, market-based solutions for agriculture, food, or climate change. To be eligible for the programme you are required to have a team of at least two people who work ideally full time for the start-up. Your start-up should have an understandable and convincing business model (clear statement of the problem, clear digital solution, clear customer segment, and clear revenue stream). You must have a viable digital product or service that positively impacts society and have launched your digital product at least six months before you submit your application to us. We specifically welcome applications from the livestock sector (vertical sectors that have an influence can be accepted like ClimateTech, e-Commerce, FinTech, Logistics, EdTech, others). The Programme is available in English and French.
Selected startups will gain access to a comprehensive ecosystem of resources tailored to accelerate their growth and impact. The benefits include mentorship, access to funding opportunities, access to individual online trainings, integrating into local ecosystems (the opportunity of using a local hub or office space, connect you with peers and support you in increasing your visibility and facilitate contacts with major players in the local, regional, and international start-up ecosystems), networking with potential partners, and exposure to a global community of like-minded investors.
Start-ups interested in participating in the IRP 2024 can apply through the VC4A platform via the SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2024 page. The application process runs from August 28th to October 20th, 2023. After a rigorous evaluation, in November 2023 and December 2023 all applicants will be informed about the outcome in December 2023. Your application would be warmly welcomed.
The Investment Readiness Programme is a great opportunity to for start-ups to thrive. During the time I have been part of the SAIS team, I have seen great progress of each participant, working exactly on their needs and finally becoming part of the SAIS family.
Ornella Escalada Corsi
Contact Information:
SAIS e-mail : SAIS@giz.de
SAIS LinkedIn: Scaling digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups (SAIS)
SAIS website: sais-accelerator.com