Startups

Funding Opportunities For African Businesses

  1. UK-Nigeria Tech Hub/Future Females Business School Tech Programme 2022 for female Nigerian Entrepreneurs

The Future Females Business School, in partnership with UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, is a leading programme that offers funded spots to Nigerian female entrepreneurs building tech-based businesses and creating impact in their communities. The UK-Nigeria Tech Hub provides fully funded spots for successful applicants to join the Future Females Business School programme.

Applicant Requirements

  • Applicants must be Nigerian citizens
  • The business must utilize technology (i.e. your business is app based or an online platform)
  • The business must impact respective communities/industries

For more information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub/Future Females Business School Tech Programme 2022

  1. ProvidusBank SME Program 2022 for young Nigerian Entrepreneurs

ProvidusBank in partnership with Enterprise Development Centre has created the ProvidusBank SME Program to build the capacity of business owners in Nigeria and provide them with the skills and competencies for the development of long-term strategic plans to transform their businesses and drive profitability.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the program, the applicant must be:

  • Business Owner who is a citizen or legal resident of Nigeria.
  • The business must be based and registered with the CAC in Nigeria.
  • The business must be for-profit from any sector.
  • Applicant must be available to commit to the training schedule once accepted.
  • Operated for at least 5 years.
  • Sales/turnover of at least 50 million naira.
  • Keep Financial Records.

Benefits

This program is designed to help businesses achieve the following

  • Develop a growth plan for their businesses
  • Develop the leadership capacity of the participants to effectively lead their teams
  • Clearly define the value proposition of your business
  • Implement structures that ensure long-term sustainability
  • Develop a ‘go-to-market’ strategy for your products and services
  • One-on-One Business Advisory to address company-specific challenges
  • Interact with like-minded entrepreneurs which enables sharing ideas and industry best practices
  • Establish a network of contacts for business and personal development

For more information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the ProvidusBank SME Program 2022

  1. OceanHub Africa Online Acceleration Program 2022 for impact-for-profit startups

 OceanHub is launching the second cohort of its six-month online acceleration program to support up to six of Africa’s most promising impact-for-profit startups focused on preserving and restoring the health of the ocean.

Becoming part of OceanHub Africa portfolio will allow you to:

  • Unlock a network of leading ocean experts, mentors (entrepreneurs, investors, innovation experts, impact experts, scientists, lawyers, etc.), impact investors and potential clients.
  • Get support to fast-track your growth by acquiring new customers or running your first Proof of Concept, and scaling your business through commercial contracts and fund raises.
  • Engage with like-minded entrepreneurs within the Blue Economy space in Africa and abroad.

Eligibility

  • Your start-up is ocean-minded: it has a direct or indirect positive impact on the oceans (addressing climate change, pollution or overexploitation of the ocean) and promotes ocean equity
  • You are a for-profit and operate in Africa
  • You have a scalable service or product available on the market or soon to be available on the market
  • Your product or service is clearly innovation and/or your business model is disruptive
  • You are looking for investments or new markets

Benefits

Service Package

  • Up to $75k worth of cloud services thanks to our partner AWS Activate
  • Free access to IoT prototyping thanks to our partner Macrocomm
  • Over $40k worth of mechanical engineering design software licenses and support for prototyping and virtual testing, thanks to our partner 3DExperience Lab
  • Access to Dassault Systemes, Amazon Web Services and International marketplaces and/or salesforce for finished products of accelerated startups

Mentorship and Support

  • Participation to an in-person training bootcamp in Cape Town
  • Tailored business skills and personal development 1-to-1 coaching
  • Sales, Product Development, Communication and Business Development Support
  • Access to our network of scientific, business, impact and investment experts from international corporations, foundations, universities and IGOs.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program 2022

  1. Merck: 2022 Research Grants Program

 Merck is offering a series of research grants to stimulate innovative research in challenging areas of future importance. The aim of the Research Grant is to create new sustainable partnerships with leading global science and technology players to work on breakthrough science and to generate valuable seeds for future business.

Funding Areas

Grants of up to 500,000 €/year for up to 3 years are available in the areas as further specified below.

  • Drug discovery – 3 grants comprising up to 500,000 €/year for 3 years with the option of extension.
  • AI for predictive diagnostics & therapeutic target discovery – grant comprising between 100,000 – 300,000 $/year for 2 years with the option of extension.
  • Chemistry in the cloud – Rapid synthesis through automation – 1 grant comprising 100,000 €/year for 3 years.
  • Innovation within green chemistry – 1 grant comprising 100,000 € for 1 year with potential further collaboration.
  • Sustainability in healthcare R&D – 1 grant comprising 100,000 € for 1 year.

Eligibility Criteria

The Merck research grants program is open to scientists in all career stages who are affiliated with any research-based institution. University or company.

For more information, visit

https://www.merckgroup.com/en/research/open-innovation/research-grants.html

  1. TED Idea Search in Africa

TED is hosting another idea search with a mission to hear big, bold ideas – this time specifically from Africa. They seek to source ideas from everywhere and to make widely and freely accessible.

Topics

Your “idea worth spreading”

  • They are looking for ideas worth spreading – that’s their mission! They are looking for ideas that are new, unique, and can offer an insight or a new way of thinking to a very large audience.
  • A TED Talk usually has a topic and an idea.
  • A topic is the high level – the general direction you want to take the talk.
  • Topic example: They need to fix the opioid crisis.
  • An idea is a specific angle that stems from the topic – a unique message, solution, or insight that only you can share.

Questions you will need to answer in your video

  • Who are you and what are your credentials?
  • What is the idea you want to share?
  • What insights will you leave the audience with?
  • Why should they invite you to give a TED talk?

Eligibility Criteria

Applications are open to anyone in or descended from the African continent. At this time, they are only able to accept applications in English. Additionally, applications without videos or applications with videos that exceed 2 minutes will not be considered.

For more information, visit

https://www.ted.com/about/conferences/speaking-at-ted/global-idea-search

  1. AFS Global STEM Accelerators

 Applications are now open for the AFS Global STEM Accelerators, a full scholarship for girls who are active global citizens and energized to help solve some of today’s biggest global challenges. Scholarship winners will participate in 12 weeks all-virtual programs focusing on emerging and critical STEM skills and fields, global competence education, and social impact (co-developed with the University of Pennsylvania). Scholars will enrich their STEM knowledge and skills through interactive, hands -on curriculum, while developing critical global competencies, including problem-solving, analytical skills, intercultural understanding, and the ability to build bridges across cultures.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicants must be young women ages 15 – 17.5 years old at the program start date (Birth dates from December 1, 2004, through June 1, 2007).
  • Must be able to participate fully in classroom setting and program conducted entirely in English.
  • Demonstrated interest in sustainability, STEM, and interacting with different cultures.
  • Talented young people from all backgrounds who reflect the diversity of populations around the world, particularly underrepresented populations and students with high financial need, are strongly encouraged to apply!

For more information, visit

https://afs.org/global-stem/accelerators/

  1. Save Our Seas Foundation offers Keystone Grants

 The Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) is offering Keystone Grants to protect our oceans by funding and supporting research, conservation and education projects worldwide, focusing primarily on threatened marine wildlife and their habitats.

Funding Information

  • Grants average 25,000 USD per annum.
  • The usual project duration is limited to three years.
  • The funding cycle is biennial, with the grant application window opening in even years (2020, 2022, 2024 etc.), and the grant covering the period from March 2023 to June 2024, for example. Funds are allocated on annual basis, with the option to apply for continued funding every year.

For more information, visit

https://saveourseas.com/grants/funding-applications/keystone-grants/

  1. Wild Animal Initiative/Small Grants Program

The Wild Animal Initiative is pleased to launch the Small Grants Program to empower wild animal welfare researchers to explore topics neglected by other funders. They support research that advances their understanding of the fundamental concepts, novel methods, and preliminary interventions that will most rapidly accelerate progress in the field.

Funding Information

  • Grant size $2,000 – $30,000
  • They prioritize funding for direct research costs such as for supplies, materials, and travel. Funding for other expenses areas (such as stipends, salaries, or durable goods) should be fully justified relative to the project goals.

Eligibility Criteria

This call is open to anyone, but they are especially interested in supporting postdocs and PhD students pursuing a long-term research career in the field of wild animal welfare, and researchers who have not previously included welfare considerations in their work. They particularly encourage applications from communities underrepresented in the sciences, including but not limited to people of color, self-identified women, and non-binary individuals.

For more information, visit

https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/cfp-april-2022

  1. Harvest for Health Breakthrough Crop Challenge

The Harvest for Health has launched the Breakthrough Crop Challenge to develop a predictive model that can screen underutilized crops to determine a crop’s usefulness as a source of functional ingredients or nutrients. The challenge attracts more private sector investment in underutilized crop development.

Funding Information

  • Seed funding of up to $75,000 to develop a predictive model of underutilized crops.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Any US and non-US public or private institution, consortium, non-profit organization, for-profit company, tribal government entity or any combination of the above is eligible to apply.
  • Contestants do not need to participate in Seed Funding to participate in the Challenge or potentially receive $1 million.
  • The Challenge winner will be involved with FFAR in the utilization of the predictive model in Phase II of the Harvest for Health program, which will be used prioritize underutilized crops for commercial development based on their potential for increased public and private investments.

For more information, visit

https://foundationfar.org/grants-funding/opportunities/harvest-for-health-breakthrough-crop-challenge/

  1. Innovative Challenge: The future of conservation NGOs

 The Luc Hoffmann Institute, the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and Impact Hub have launched a global challenge to drive innovation and support solutions that proactively address the deep-rooted issues facing conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and help build a just, inclusive and regenerative future.

Benefits

Participants have the chance to win:

  • €5,000 per winning entry
  • A place in a tailored incubation and co-learning program
  • Access to a community of conservation practitioners, fellow change-makers and potential investors.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Who: Any individual or team from around the world may apply. If applying as a team, they ask that you name three key team members in the application form and nominate a lead representative, who will be the first point of contact and the primary participant in the incubation program for winning ideas. Participation by up to two other team members in incubation activities is also possible, but the team lead should be consistently present throughout. If your team is larger than three people they ask that you take responsibility for sharing learnings and ideas developed through the co-learning and incubation process back to the wider team.
  • Sector: They strongly encourage teams composed of people from different sectors. Applicants do not need a history of working on conservation-related projects or ideas or within NGOs.
  • Age: Individual entrants must be aged over 18 and teams must comprise at least one entrant who is aged over 18.
  • Language: They are currently accepting applications in English only, but they strongly encourage both native and non-native English speakers to apply. No judgements will be made on language proficiency. The incubation and co-learning program offered to winners will be conducted in English.
  • They acknowledge that there is a need to embrace linguistic diversity, however, at this stage of the initiative, they are unable to do so in a way that is truly inclusive.

For more information, visit

https://luchoffmanninstitute.org/the-future-of-conservation-ngos-innovation-portal/#tab-47521

 

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