Winners of Partners in Acceleration (PiA) - Challenge Fund for Innovation Hubs announced

Make-IT in Africa has selected the winners of the „Partners in Acceleration - Challenge Fund for Innovation Hubs“. Innohub Foundation (Ghana), iBizAfrica Strathmore University & Pangea Accelerator (Kenya), Centre for Values in Leader & Greenhouse Capital (Nigeria) and BPN Rwanda & BAG Innovation (Rwanda) have won between 50,000 and 100,000 Euro to implement innovative programmes.

The aim of the challenge fund for innovation hubs is to support the development of new approaches to empower digital start-ups in an innovative and impactful way. The challenge fund was especially looking for programmes that are offered by partner from different backgrounds, e.g. an accelerator and an investor or an accelerator and an industry association.

The winners were all asked to present approaches that can be implemented under the current restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
GIZ’s Make-IT in Africa implemented the call for application and the selection process in collaboration with Endeva and VC4A.

The winners are:

Innohub Foundation: The Innohub Foundation will implement a 3-month agritech investment readiness accelerator with a tailored support and post programme investment matching with identified investors. The target group are 10 youth-led digital agriTech Startups from Ghana; Wangara Green Ventures, Accra Angels Network and ABSA are investment partners of the programme.

@iBizAfrica Strathmore University & Pangea Accelerator: @iBizAfrica Strathmore University & Pangea Accelerator will implement a Women and Youth Agritech Acceleration Programme for 10 entrepreneurs between 18 and 35 years in Kenya. The program aims at increasing business growth in Agri-tech through supporting adoption of innovations that can increase food security. The proposed approach has three core components which are adaptive learning, accelerated transformation through coaching and mentoring and attracting investment.

Centre for Values in Leader & Greenhouse Capital: Centre for Values in Leader & Greenhouse Capital will implement a 3-month leadership-focused accelerator programme that supports 10 female-led and female-focused growth-stage African fintech companies. The program will not only produce companies that are ready to grow but also train founders on how to effectively lead their companies through the growth process and attract the resources necessary to do so.

BPN Rwanda & BAG Innovation: The LOOP Acceleration Rwanda aims to amplify the growth of 10-15 high potential education start-ups with founders between 18-25 years. The Business Professional Network (BPN) has a vast network of seasoned entrepreneurs and businesses that will play an important role in connecting the young founders with experienced mentors. BAG Innovation is responsible for the training delivery of the LOOP Acceleration program and facilitation of the entire project.