Introducing the launch of the third edition of #Africa4Future, a joint accelerator program between Airbus’ global aerospace accelerator, BizLab and Make-IT in Africa, a programme by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit German (GIZ), the German agency for International Cooperation.
First launched in 2017, the #Africa4Future initiative was created by Airbus BizLab with the objective to encourage and support entrepreneurship in Africa. Through #Africa4future, Airbus seeks to build bridges between the aerospace industry and the different players in Africa.
For this third edition, the accelerator is open to African start-ups, service providers, software companies that are actively working on solutions in Agriculture and infrastructure sectors that are related to remote-sensing technology. This includes automation, blockchain, artificial intelligence, data analytics, material composites, manufacturing and more. Infrastructure refers to transportation/logistics mapping, water monitoring, waste management, real estate, urban development and other related areas.
To foster and promote the inclusion of sustainable Industry innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); and Food security, nutrition and agriculture (SDG 2); Airbus BizLab together with its partners will consolidate and make their resources available to the startups to support economic development across Africa (SDG 17).
The 3-month programme will include virtual coaching sessions, expert sessions with Airbus experts in Europe, connection to industry experts locally, access to Airbus technologies, 250,000 up42 credit, showcase events in Africa and Europe.
At the end of the programme, the startups (either standalone or as a consortium) will have the amazing opportunity to pitch a project to the leadership team at Airbus and GIZ for possible collaboration with both organizations.
The program is implemented by Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), a Pan-African innovation center with a track record of accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity. CcHUB will provide strategic support and practical industry know-how to the startups to engage multiple stakeholders within their ecosystem and facilitate the connection with these global organizations.
Applications are now open and startups can apply from today until 14th March, 2020. See more information and apply – http://bit.ly/africa4future
Eligibility Criteria
We are looking for startups/solution providers/companies that:
- Create value in Agriculture and Infrastructure sectors
- Have the ability to leverage remote sensing technologies
- Have been running operations for at least 1 year.
- Have an existing product with traction (customers and/or revenue)
- Have a strong management team
- Have experience leveraging partnerships to create impact
In addition to the above, companies must be registered in Africa and the founder must be a Citizen of any country on the continent.
We will also be hosting information sessions in 5 countries namely:- Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal and Morocco; If you are in any of these countries, we look forward to meeting with you. Kindly register to attend and get updates here – bit.ly/A4Finfosession Beyond learning more about the programme, these information sessions will also serve as an opportunity to learn more about some of Airbus’ technology and to network with other entrepreneurs with similar interests.
About Partners
Airbus BizLab is a global aerospace accelerator, where startups and Airbus intrapreneurs speed up the transformation of innovative ideas into valuable businesses.
GIZ Make-IT Accelerator offers tech start-ups a program to help them strengthen their growth, cooperation and investment readiness.
Implementation Partners
Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) is a technology innovation centre dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity. CcHUB is Nigeria’s premier living lab designed as a space where work to catalyze creative tech ventures take place. The Hub is Nigeria’s first open living lab for technologists, entrepreneurs, tech companies, investors and hackers in and around Lagos. Over the years, CcHUB has provided technological solutions to various sectors of the economy including education, public health and governance through the various projects the hub is actively engaging in.
Endeva is a system change facilitator with the mission to make the global economic transformation inclusive. We tackle today’s development challenges by nurturing the businesses of the future. We curate systems change for the SDGs to achieve impact at scale.
