Startup Wise Guys – SaaS Accelerator Program: Africa

Startup Wise Guys SaaS acceleration Africa program will provide an optimized approach that delivers tailored guidance and support from world class mentors and experts. Our accelerator program will help you navigate the bumps in the company building road, revolutionize your go-to-market strategy and encourage you to bring your A game.

We know you’re passionate about what you do and this program will provide you access to an constantly expanding network of like minded founders, practitioners and investors and encourage value driven partnerships with people who see the world just like you do!

Key benefits

• Get funding
  Up to €100K investment for up to 12% equity (70K cash + 30K program) with a follow-on possibility.
• Grow your knowledge
  Get access to our program and grow thanks to weekly’s 1:1 support in areas like sales, marketing, pitching…
• Make connections
  Get access to top notch industry experts joining a network of +600 founders, +350 mentors and +200 investors.

Eligibility criteria

This program is mainly for English-speaking East and West African early-stage digital B2B SaaS startups with initial traction, a solid team, and a focus on one of these areas:

• You are an early-stage B2B startups from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana.
• You are an early-stage B2B SaaS startups working in:
  • FinTech
  • AgriTech
  • ClimaTech
• You have a working MVP
• Your startup has at least 2 co-founders or team members
• You are building initial customer traction, MRR or revenues.
• Scaling potential across the African continent.

Program modules

Week 1-5 / Module 1

Setting KPI’s, Company Building, Get together, and Market Engineering Sprint

Acceleration Program Starts: October 9th, 2023

The first module begins with an introduction to the program, including a first meeting with your lead coaches who will work alongside you and track your progress through the program. After setting KPI’s for each of the four main areas of the program: company building, sales & marketing, fundraising, and pitching, this module will primarily focus on company building to ensure your startup has a strong foundation.

For our hybrid program, this also includes an onsite portion, where startups travel to their host city to meet each other, the Startup Wise Guys team, and coaches to engage in team building, live workshops, and networking activities. The first module concludes with a one week Market Engineering Sprint led by Startup Wise Guys CEO, Cristobal Alonso. What a ride!

Implementation week- this is time for you to pause, take a breath, and implement some of the knowledge you gained in module 1. You deserve it.

Week 7-10 / Module 2

Communication, Sales, and Product Sprint

This module focus on communication and pitching.This includes storytelling, pitch deck prep, product demos, and preparation for Progress Day. Progress Day is an opportunity for startups to share their learnings with internal stakeholders and Startup Wise Guys team members to make sure everyone is aligned and progressing according to plan. Module 2 ends with a one week Product Sprint, where startups get to test and validate a customer centered idea. Like the Market Engineering Sprint, the Product Sprint is another highly rated part of the accelerator program.

The program ends with another implementation week to breathe, reflect and, well, implement.

Week 12-15 / Module 3

Sales, Marketing,Growth and Progress Day

In addition to interactive and informative workshops focused on sales, modules 3 and 4 focus more on one-on-one mentorship by selected experts to address your individual needs. Each module startups have an opportunity to check in with their lead mentors to ensure they are progressing as planned.

At the end of the module is- you guessed it- implementation week! So much knowledge gained, and a week to yourself to implement it.

Week 17-20 / Module 4

Fundraising, Investor Readiness and Graduation Day

This includes VC presentations, investor panels, investor negotiations, and more one-on-one support. The program concludes with Graduation Day where we reflect on all of the hard work startups have put in over the past 5 months and recognize how much they’ve grown. Congrats.

Aftercare

Don’t think that the after the program we stop working together. You can still benefit from the support of the Startup wise guys community channels and get fundraising support for your future investment rounds.