Uganda Ecosystem Builders 2020

Village Capital, with support from the Argidius Foundation, is launching Uganda Ecosystem Builders 2020 to train and support entrepreneur and enterprise support organizations, or intermediaries, in Uganda. The project will build organisational capacity through bootcamps and the provision of 1:1 business advisory support. This project aims to improve the quality of intermediaries in Uganda, and thus the quality of support that SMEs and startups receive, through the following:

• A full business diagnostic specifically designed to assess intermediaries relative to industry standards
• Support in developing a performance plan of milestones across critical business areas towards improved strategy, operations, and business sustainability
• The opportunity to pitch this performance plan for grant funding from both the program AND other development partners
• Best practice sessions within critical business areas: team, problem and vision, value proposition, services and programs, pipeline and selection, ecosystem, operations, financial sustainability, and impact.
• Advice from experienced mentors

High-level aggregated and anonymised data may be published on the makeup of the full application pool. Please reference our Unlocking Pipeline report for an example of what this could look like. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns or questions about this (email address: audrey.mate@vilcap.com). Thank you and good luck with your application!

Eligibility

To be eligible, organisations must be focused on supporting early-stage enterprises addressing countrywide problems such as financial inclusion, agriculture, healthcare, environmental sustainability, and livelihoods.

This program is best suited to entrepreneur and enterprise support organisations and business development service providers supporting early-stage small and medium enterprises and/or startups.

Intermediaries MUST fall into one of the following categories:

• Accelerator or incubator of early-stage companies
• Seed stage or early-stage venture capital firm
• Association or network of entrepreneurs
• Makerspace or fablab
• SME business advisory firm
• University incubator
• Think tank
• BDS provider

Target Country:

Applicants must have operations in Uganda. Applicants can have operations in other countries however preference will be given to those solely operating in Uganda.

The Workshops:

We will select about 10-15 organisations to attend the training. We will host two bootcamps and one pitch day in Uganda. The dates are as follows:

– Bootcamp 1: January 19-22, 2021 (Virtual)

– Bootcamp 2: February 16-19, 2021 (Virtual or in-person TBD)

– Pitch Day: March 16, 2021 (Virtual or in-person TBD)

The deadline to apply for this program is October 5, 2020

A look ahead:

Only semi-finalists will be notified of their selection. This update will occur on Friday, October 9 or Monday, October 12.

If you are selected as a semi-finalist and you have received philanthropic or contract-based revenue, you will be expected to provide Village Capital with a letter of support or reference by your grant partner or contracting agency by Tuesday, October 20. We suggest preparing your network in advance so that they are not rushed.

Your notification about semi-final selection (to occur on Friday, October 9 or Monday, October 12) will include an M&E survey that will allow us to collect baseline data about your organization. We ask that you complete this form by Tuesday, October 20. Your application cannot proceed without this form

Semi-finalists will also be expected to furnish existing impact/annual reports – you do not have to prepare one if you do not already have this documentation. You should provide this by Tuesday, October 20 as well.

If selected as a semi-finalist, you will be asked to offer 60-90 minutes of your time to answer questions about your application during a due diligence call. Due diligence calls will occur from Thursday, October 22 through to Friday, October 30. You will be invited to select a time slot that works for you when you are notified of your semi-final selection.