Kenyan tech startups in their early stages can apply to the Spark Accelerator, a program run by Sumitomo Corporation, M-PESA Africa, and Safaricom, to help them grow faster in the fintech and content industries.
To support and invest in late-seed and early-growth startups based in Kenya, Safaricom launched the Spark Venture Fund back in 2014.
The fund was designed to leverage Safaricom’s resources to help the companies flourish.
Six Kenyan startups—Sendy, Lynk, Ajua, Eneza, iProcure, and FarmDrive—were each given an average of US$175,000 by a US$1 million fund. A second fund was planned in 2020, though not much was heard of it after that.
Applications for the next edition are now being accepted thanks to a partnership between M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo Corporation, a renowned Fortune 500 global trading and business investment organization. A combination of training, mentorship, investment, and go-to-market support will be offered throughout the three-month accelerator program to help startups expand scale and position them for long-term success.
Using an ecosystem-based approach to find and accelerate the companies by employing a team of specialists that understand market dynamics, and emerging tech, are eager to enable ongoing innovation, and will initially aid fintech and content entrepreneurs.
To create mini-apps integrated into Safaricom’s M-PESA Super App, participating entrepreneurs will receive access to technical help, enabling them to reach the app’s over four million users.
Furthermore, M-PESA Africa will provide companies aiming to broaden their international reach with knowledge, market research and insights, and other forms of capacity support. Beyond the three-month initiative, the support will be extended, giving program startups access to M-PESA’s eight markets more than 60 million clients, and 5 million enterprises.
The accelerator program will conclude with an investor demo day where the startups will present to partner venture capital firms and Safaricom for investment. iHub, a division of Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) and a trailblazer in Kenya’s startup scene, will serve as the Spark Accelerator’s implementation partner.
The deadline for applications is February 16.
Visit the website for additional information or to apply.
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