Seedstars 2023 Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa Program

Published: 09 Dec 2022

The objective of the Project is to address gender inequality and inclusive economic empowerment for African women. Specifically, the Project aims at increasing the capacity and sustainability of enablers supporting Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs), as well as increase access to mentorship, funding and visibility for WSMEs.

Over the past years, many promising entrepreneurship support programs (ESOs) such as incubators, accelerators, university-based innovation hubs, maker spaces, technology parks, and co-working spaces, have been launched across the continent to help build more sustainable and successful startups that are relevant in Africa’s economy. However, these enablers are often limited in the support they are able to provide WSMEs due to lack of funding and network access, and lack of well-positioned services.

Seedstars Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa Program

Application Deadline	December 31, 2022
Funding Type	Partially Funded
Type	Entrepreneurs
Sponsor	SeedStars
Gender	Women

Benefits of Seedstars Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa Program

• To address gender inequality and inclusive economic empowerment for African women.
• Specifically, the Project aims at increasing the capacity and sustainability of enablers supporting Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs), as well as increase access to mentorship, funding and visibility for WSMEs.
• Increased investment readiness through capacity building for WSMEs

Requirements for Seedstars Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa Program

Enablers :

• Based in one of the following countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, ZambiaIvory Coast, Ethiopia, Angola, Mali, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Gambia, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius and Nigeria.
• Enhancing the viability and sustainability of WSMEs,
• Providing innovative approaches to ecosystem support designed to close the financing gap for WSMEs,
• Introducing innovative ways to provide capacity building for WSMEs,
• Providing digital presence and visibility to WSMEs,
• and Enhancing access to mentorship for WSMEs.

WSME:

• Between Seed and Growth Stage
• Based in one of the above countries
• Have at least one woman on the founding team
• Have a digital element in their product (example: Mobile application, Online Shop, SAAS product, etc.)

 

Selection Process

Timeline:

Open Call: 1st of December - 31st of December 2022

Sourcing: December 2022

Screening: January 2023

Program Activities: February - May 2023

Investor Forum: June 2023

Application Deadline

December 31, 2022

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to SeedStars on seedsta.rs to apply