What investments does SAIS make in its portfolio companies?

Our approach is to connect the start-ups we are supporting with potential investors and business partners, but we do not directly invest. Successful applicants that are chosen for the Investment Readiness Programmes (IRPs) will receive different services from us (please see answer under question 3) that are worth up to $50k. Unlike other accelerator or investment programmes, we do not acquire shares of the companies that successfully applied to our IRPs. However, during the IRPs, startups get access to investors and partners to raise more funding. So far, more than half of our startups raised capital during or one year after they concluded the IRP.