The Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF) is an Access Bank initiative aimed at fostering, funding and stimulating the development of Africa’s Fintech startups.
This is achieved through its mentorship and accelerator programs, by rapidly monitoring their development and maturity in order to provide appropriate business strategies, and by ensuring greater access to financial services for the financially excluded across the continent.
The accelerator program for 12 weeks is broken down into 3 phases:
Design
Pitch
Build
Who can apply?
We are looking for Startups that:
- Have a technology-enabled solution
- Have clear monetization strategies
- Solves a problem for specific target customer
- Have a cross-functional team with deep understanding of the market – which include a technical lead and founder(s) that are fully committed to the business
- Have a defensible position (IP; network effects; domain or region expertise)
- Have a functional prototype with early traction – Been in operations (since launch date) for at least 6 months
- Are highly scalable (via digital distribution or ability to scale sales)
- Have potential to address global markets
- Have a defensible position (IP; network effects; domain or region expertise)
- Offers a unique solution or unique application in a regional setting
Benefits:
- Curriculum: Wide variety of experts focused on marketing, startup accounting, product design, mobile, user testing, sales and more
- Fun: You will work hard but have fun in the process.
- Pitch: You’ll see your startup grow at an amazing pace, doing more in 3 months than you’ll probably do in 2 years
- Mentorship: Access to mentorship and clinic hours from leading entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts
- Community: Working with other people going through the same challenge makes a huge difference
- Post-program Support: Ongoing mentorship, formal & informal referrals, access to funding, networking opportunities etc.
- Funding: We provide growth funding by connecting you to our funding partners at various stages of the program
What the program offers:
- Access to market across Access bank’s customers and subsidiaries.
- 12 weeks of formal and informal mentorship from established founders, Access bank leaders, investors and pioneers in various industries.
- Strategic introductions to industry-specific investors.
- Access to our workspace and developer community.
- $25,000 worth of services per start-up (Mentorship, Valuation, Marketing and PR spend, Workspace).
- Better pricing for payment capabilities (Account debit, Card transactions and payment via link).
- Discounted cloud services/hardware and software subscriptions from our tech partners.
Interested applicants can apply here: africafintechfoundry.com