Sometimes you just need a little help.

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.

We have multiple touchpoints with investors during the programme and our network is constantly growing. We have a demo day and an alumni circle after the programme with opportunities to meet the right investor. So far, almost half of the companies have received follow-on funding during or after the programme.

If you work with the GIZ, please let us know and indicate this clearly in the application. Most of the time, this is not a problem, even appreciated. If you have questions in advance, reach out to us via SAIS@giz.de.

Seven indicators measure the performance of the start-ups during the programme to improve the level of investment readiness:

  • Indicator 1: The managerial skills of the founding team are improved, the sharing of roles and responsibilities within the management team is clearly defined.
  • Indicator 2: The start-up’s database is updated, and all the documents necessary for adequate ‘due diligence’ are available (e.g., pitch deck, annual balance sheet, accounting report, bank statements, forecasts, and strategy Release).
  • Indicator 3: A digital user base monitoring system is established and provides reliable data.
  • Indicator 4: A market study and an analysis of the start-up’s competitiveness are available for the national and possible expansion markets.
  • Indicator 5: A strategy and a catalogue of measures for marketing and sales are available and guide the actions of the founding team to develop the start-up.
  • Indicator 6: The start-up’s digital product is customer-focused and ready to market (e.g. product adaptation to the target market, data security guaranteed, adaptation to applicable national regulations).
  • Indicator 7: The start-up’s customer acquisition rate has improved.

Going through multiple programmes simultaneously is not recommended, as your time commitment to your company and the L-IRP might be challenging enough. However, you can participate in programmes before and after the SAIS L-IRP as you will. In addition, after completing the L-IRP, we provide master classes with additional coaching and services for high-performing start-ups.

We don’t tell you what to do or when, but we create an environment conducive to helping your start-up every day. At least once a week, you will meet with one of our coaches and mentors/experts to discuss and define your next steps.

If you don’t have an office, we will try to access a local hub to facilitate contact with major players in the local start-up scene. The use of the regional hub office is entirely optional.

The primary language that we use in verbal and written communications during the programme – is English.

Upon acceptance to the L-IRP, the start-up has full access to all programme benefits. In addition, the accelerated start-ups commit to providing monthly data from the start of the programme until the end of 2023 concerning: Revenue, number of customers, funds raised and number of employees.

All data will only be collected to track the progress of each start-up during the programme and will not be published. Each team needs to commit on average 3 hours per week for the programme; this applies most often to the founders but not only. We require access to data and customers, with the agreement that we can execute at least two times a questionnaire with your customers to evaluate the impact of your product/service.

Our belief at SAIS is: Competition is good for business. However, we try to avoid accepting competitive companies into the same programme class.

With the growing SAIS alumni portfolio of companies/start-ups, there may be competitive companies in the broader SAIS network. So, if there is a company in the SAIS portfolio that’s competitive, we make sure there is no exchange of sensitive data.

We accelerate all types of start-ups whose business model contributes to our overall goal of increasing incomes in the agri-food sector through digital innovations in the livestock industry.

Successful applicants have free access to our L-IRP benefits worth up to $50k. In addition, unlike other accelerator programmes, we do not require shares of the companies that successfully applied for the investment readiness programme.

SAIS provides benefits worth up to $50k, which contain e.g.:

  • Weekly sessions of personalized coaching with local and international experts
  • Access to premium online training/classes (tailored)
  • Access to additional premium services and optimization packages to optimize certain key areas (e.g., interim CTO, Website / App optimization, online marketing support, digital product optimization, design, coding, legal advice)
  • Integration into a local hub (optional)
  • Access to the GIZ network
  • So far, about half of our start-ups raise capital during or after the SAIS programme.

Our overall goal at SAIS is to increase incomes in the agri-food sector through proven digital innovations. At the L-IRP we focus on innovations in the African livestock value chain.