Sometimes you just need a little help.

We do not invest ourselves, but we help you to make your business investment-ready and connect you with our network of investors and partners. Unlike other accelerator or investment programmes, we do not acquire shares of the companies that successfully applied to our IRPs.

We try to avoid accepting direct competitor companies from the same country into the same cohort.

If selected, start-ups should be committed to:

  • Nominate a team member like the CEO, co-founder or another member of the management team who commits an average of 2 hours per week to the programme and who serves as focal point for SAIS for the duration of the programme.
  • Participate actively in virtual events.
  • Nominate and dispatch one employee for at least two in-person community events (SAIStival).
  • Provide data on the company’s progress and growth from the start of the IRP until at least one year after the end of the programme, including but not limited to data on: revenue, number of users, customers, funds raised and number of employees (Note that this data will only be collected to track the progress of each start-up in compliance with data protection requirements).
  • Facilitate access to customers or clients for the purpose of impact evaluation of your product/service/technology through surveys.
  • Collaborate with contracted experts and service providers to implement targeted technical support measures (this may include sharing relevant business data and documents to support needs assessments and due-diligence).
  • Participate in lesson-learning and experience-sharing activities for internal and public audiences.

Companies that graduate from the programme stay part of the SAIS community: You can continue to participate in the monthly community and peer-learning events and we will keep you notified of upcoming fundraising & support opportunities. Motivated start-up founders can sign up to become mentors for start-ups in the next cohort.

If your company does not have an office, we can support you to access a local hub or co-working space to provide a workplace for you and your team.

Yes, we have a special track for start-ups from francophone countries in Africa and mentors and experts from these regions, so we can cover the needs of French speaking teams.

Yes, though we do not recommend going through multiple programmes simultaneously. The time commitment to different programmes at the same time will be challenging for you.

A Navigator is a member from the SAIS team who will be your main contact point for the duration of the programme. Your navigator will visit you on-site (if possible), assess your support needs, help you set goals and milestones in your development plan, and regularly check-in with you on your progress.

Actively participate and ask questions in one of our upcoming info sessions.

The video is required for the application process. We are not looking for a professionally produced video; we want to see what you are working on, why you’re excited about it, how your team works together, and what makes you unique. You can record a video with your phone but make sure the audio quality is good.

Please reach out to VC4A directly for any support needed with your application after submission. You can reach out to Akram from the VC4A team. Please note that this is only intended for technical matters only (i.e. difficulty uploading a document, difficulty uploading pitch video, changing pitch deck version attached, etc.) other non-technical matters will be disregarded.

We use seven criteria to measure the investment readiness of a start-ups during the programme:

  1. Founding team
 The competencies and structures of the founding team are improved (in the area of leadership, networking, management, evaluation, distribution of tasks in the team, etc.)
  1. Data room & due diligence
 The business data (data room) is updated and improved and all necessary documents for a “due diligence” are available (e. g. pitch deck, annual balance sheet, accounting report etc.)
  1. Data analytics
 A digital system for monitoring the start-up’s user base is established and used (“data analytics”)
  1. Market & competition analysis
 A market and competition analysis of the start-up for its own market and possible expansion markets is available and used
  1. Marketing & Sales
 A strategy and catalogue of measures for marketing & sales are available and guide the actions of the founding team to scale the start-up
  1. Product
 The digital product of the start-up is customer-focused and marketable (e.g. adapted to the target customer and target market, data security guaranteed, in line with national regulations, etc.)
  1. Customer growth
 The start-up’s customer growth is positively improved

These indicators are based on what investors look at and addressing them will help you to raise investment. In addition to investment readiness, we measure the customer growth of the start-ups, their impact on the income of their customers, food security and climate adaptation, and of course the investments raised during the programme until one year after.

If you have worked with GIZ as an employee or contractor, please let us know and indicate this clearly in the application. Most of the time, this is not an issue. If you have questions in advance, reach out to us via SAIS@giz.de.

We highly recommend that your founding team works in the company full-time so that you can focus on your business. But we fully understand your decision not to quit your previous job, especially if your start-up is still early stage.

We don’t exclude applications just because they have a single founder. But we look for teams with a range of complementary skills. Therefore, we highly recommend you seek co-founders who balance your skillset. If you are a single founder, you should build a strong management team around you.

No, it is not.

No! We treat all data and information given in the application in a proper and confidential manner. We take measures to protect your data and information, as this guarantees our core business model and good reputation.

 

No, you just have to fill out the application form.

Yes, it is not a requirement that your technology development is done in-house.

Please get in touch with us at sais@giz.de and tell us about the company and why you think they’ll be a good fit.

Yes, VC4A is our partner supporting us in the selection of start-ups. They also actively reach out to companies on our behalf and inform them about the open call for application.