20 September Deadline for the Ecobank Fintech Challenge – Apply Now
20 September Deadline for the Ecobank Fintech Challenge – Apply Now
Ecobank has launched the Ecobank Fintech Challenge to identify and partner with FinTechs that are ready to scale. Ecobank will provide successful applicants with support and access to opportunities across Ecobank’s 33 African markets.
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is open to all Fintechs on the African continent. It will offer participants the opportunity to participate in Ecobank’s FinTech innovation fair and join the Ecobank FinTech fellowship. Other potential benefits for selected firms include:
- Access to 33 markets Stand a chance to be among the top three winners at the challenge awarded with $15000, $12000 and $10000 cash prizes, respectively.
- An opportunity to partner with Ecobank locally in any of Ecobank’s 33 country ecosystem.
- Access to a dedicated team to support FinTechs with Ecobank’s API test to enable them to improve their products for the pan-African market.
- Access to a vast network of global and African accelerators as well as potential investors and mentors.
- Potential integration with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings such as Ecobank Omni, Ecobank electronic financial supply chain (eFSC), Ecobank Xpress, Ecobank Mobile APP or USSD, MasterPass QR, mVisa & mCash.
To qualify, FinTechs should make sure their products address one or more specific pain points, including customer experience, financial inclusion, credit scoring, ecosystem aggregation, internal tools, payments or any other relevant product categories.
Interested firms can apply by sending details of their product and a demo before 20 September 2021.
For more information about the challenge and application details, visit: Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2021
Call for applications for women-led businesses to access business development support and low-interest loans
Call for applications for women-led businesses to access business development support and low-interest loans
The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and Inkomoko Entrepreneurship Development seek to support 75 women-led businesses in Rwanda with access to business development services and low-interest loans. Through this program, selected businesses will benefit from six months of business bootcamp workshops, business consulting services, and networking opportunities in addition to low-interest loans. The program targets women-led businesses in the retail, wholesale, agriculture, tourism and hospitality, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing sectors. To be eligible, interested businesses should:
- Be a women-led business – founded, run and owned by a woman or have a woman as majority shareholder/key decision maker
- Have an annual revenue of not less than Rwf 65 million
- Have at least more than 5 employees with the potential to create more jobs. (There will be flexibility depending on the business venture
- Have a need we can help fulfill with our services.
- Be registered with Rwanda Development Board
- Have at least one year of operation.
To register, contact:
Phone number: 0788455377
Email: info@inkomoko.com
Apply for Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa today!
Google for Startups invites applicants for the Black Founders Fund Africa. The program aims to support early-stage black founded startups that are benefitting the black community on the continent and specifically seeks to bridge the existing fundraising gap for black startup founders in Africa’s fast-growing technology landscape. Up to $3 million is available to support 50 successful investable startups in Africa.
How will successful applicants benefit?
Successful startups will access the following:
- Receive seed funding of $50,000 or $100,000 depending on the startup product development stage.
- Mentorship support and access to Google platform credits to accelerate business growth.
- Opportunity to connect with Google for Startups Accelerator & Partner program alumni.
Who should apply?
The Black Founders Fund Africa is intended for startups in Africa seeking seed-stage funding that meet the following criteria:
- Have an existing product or service for Africa and the global market
- Are creating jobs, have the potential to raise more funding, and are making an impact
- The founding team has at least one black C-level founding member
- Operating as a technology startup or a business where technology is a core for the ability to scale
- Proposed startup products/services are compatible with Google products
Eligible countries
The program is accepting applicants from the following countries in Africa: Botswana, Cameroun, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
How to apply
Eligible startups can apply online here.
Deadline: 7th July 2021
For more information, visit https://campus.co/africa/black-founders-fund/.
The Westerwelle Startup Haus offers support for entrepreneurs in Rwanda.
The Westerwelle Startup Haus offers support for entrepreneurs in Rwanda.
The Westerwelle Startup Haus Kigali is an innovation hub established in August 2018 and it is supported by the Westerwelle Foundation, a German-based non-profit organization. The Foundation was established in 2013 and aims to promote entrepreneurship, social-economic growth, and job creation here in Rwanda. Westerwelle Startup Haus offers a unique mix of services to help entrepreneurs with innovative new business ideas to exchange with peers and develop their businesses. These include access to a co-working space, networking events, private offices, and a makerspace as well as advisory services and opportunities for networking internationally.
Westerwelle Startup Haus offers working space packages, which include a day pass option for individuals, flex and fixed desks for individuals renting on a monthly basis in a co-working environment, and private offices for companies offered by the month. Membership, which includes access to networking events, is available to Individuals renting fixed and flex desks and companies renting private offices. Westerwelle Startup Haus has had over 178 members and 54 startups and companies hosted at their premises. Currently, they only host 50% of the startups due to COVID-19 preventive measures put forward by the government of Rwanda.
The Westerwelle Startup Haus has been operating in Rwanda for two years, supporting startups from a variety of sectors and garnering a membership of more than 150 members. In addition to the above-mentioned services, Westerwelle Startup Haus also offers an incubation program that provides cohorts of 20 startups a 10-month membership subscription with access to the organization’s wide range of amenities along with business development services such as business diagnostics, mentorship sessions, workshops about business tools, and team building activities. Through the incubation program, Westerwelle Startup Haus has had 3 cohorts with 40 startups participating in the program.
For more information, visit Westerwelle Startup Haus or contact the organization directly via email at info@westerwelle.haus.
Westerwelle Startup Haus iha imfashanyo ba rwiyemezamirimo mu Rwanda.
Westerwelle Startup Haus Kigali ni ikigo cyo guhanga udushya cyagiyeho muri Kanama 2018; kikaba giterwa inkunga n’umuryango udaharanira inyungu w’Abadage witwa Westerwelle. Uwo muryango washinzwe muri 2013 ukaba ugamije guteza imbere urwego rwa ba rwiyemezamirimo, iterambere ry’imibereho myiza n’ubukungu, no guhanga imirimo mu Rwanda. Westerwelle Startup Haus itanga serivisi zinyuranye zifasha ba rwiyemezamirimo bahanga udushya bafite ibitekerezo bishya mu bucuruzi bwabo ikabafasha kubigeza kuri bagenzi babo no guteza imbere ubucuruzi bwabo. Ibikorwa byayo birimo kubafasha gushyiraho uburyo bwo gukorera hamwe, gukora ibikorwa bibahuza nk’abakora akazi kamwe, gushyiraho ibiro by’abikorera, aho gukorera, kimwe na serivisi z’ubujyanama n’amahirwe yo kubahuza n’abandi ba rwiyemezamirimo mu rwego mpuzamahanga.
Westerwelle Startup Haus itanga ubwoko bunyuranye bw’aho gukorera burimo uburyo bwo gutanga aho gukorera umunsi ku wundi ku bantu ku giti cyabo, ameza yo gukoreraho afungwa cyangwa atimukanwa ku bantu bakodesha buri kwezi ahantu hakorerwa n’abantu benshi n’ibiro byihariye ku masosiyete ahakorera buri kwezi. Kuba umunyamuryango bijyana n’ibikorwa byo kubasha kwitabira ibikorwa bihuza abantu benshi bakora ibintu bimwe byemererwa abantu ku giti cyabo bakodesha ameza yo gukoreraho afungwa cyangwa atimukanwa na sosiyete zikodesha ibiro byihariye. Westerwelle Startup Haus yacumbikiye abanyamuryango 178 mu bikorwa remezo byayo n’ibigo by’ubucuruzi bigitangira na sosiyete 54. Muri iki gihe, icumbikiye gusa 50% by’ibigo by’ubucuruzi bigitangira bitewe n’ingamba zo kwirinda COVID-19 zashyizweho na Leta y’u Rwanda.
Westerwelle Startup Haus imaze imyaka ibiri ikorera mu Rwanda ifasha ibigo by’ubucuruzi bigitangira mu nzego zinyuranye kandi ihuriza hamwe abanyamuryango barenze 150. Usibye kandi serivisi zimaze kuvugwa, Westerwelle Startup Haus yashyizeho kandi gahunda ifasha amatsinda y’ibigo by’ubucuruzi bigitangira 20 kwiyandikisha nk’abanyamuryango bayo mu gihe cy’amezi 10 bikanabasha kubona ibikoresho byiza by’ikigo hamwe na serivisi z’iterambere ry’ubucuruzi nko kwiga ibibazo ibigo by’ubucuruzi bifite, ibiganiro by’ubujyanama, inama nyunguranabitekerezo ku bijyanye n’ibikoresho byifashishwa mu bucuruzi, n’ibikorwa byo gushyiraho amatsinda. Binyuze muri gahunda yo gufasha ibigo by’ubucuruzi bigitangira, Westerwelle Startup Haus yafashije ibyiciro 3 by’ibigo by’ubucuruzi bigitangira byagize uruhare muri gahunda.
Niba ukeneye ibindi bisobanuro, sura urubuga rwa Westerwelle Startup Haus cyangwa wandikire ikigo mu buryo butaziguye wifashishije imeyili info@westerwelle.haus.
Call for Applications for Start-Ups to Receive Capacity-Building Support
Call for Applications for Start-Ups to Receive Capacity-Building Support
The Westerwelle Startup Haus Kigali Entrepreneurship Program 2021 (WSHKEP21) is offering capacity building support for start-ups operating in Rwanda by providing access to quality infrastructure as well as tailor-made services to support their business growth. The Westerwelle Startup Kigali Entrepreneurship Program is designed to support early stage start-ups in Rwanda to create scalable businesses and integrate them deeply within the existing local starting ecosystem to facilitate knowledge sharing and peer learning. The WSHKEP21 is sponsored by the Westerwelle Foundation for International Understanding, a German-based non-profit organization.
Selected applicants will be granted a 9-month membership subscription beginning November 15, 2020, to Westerwelle Startup Haus Kigali. This includes access to mentoring sessions with experienced entrepreneurs, corporate partnership networking/facilitation, investment opportunity networking/facilitation, business diagnostic services, and workshops on topics including:
- Business & financial management
- Corporate governance
- Market research and competitor analysis
- Leadership skills analysis
- Sales and marketing
It also includes access to amenities such as:
- Access to a fixed working space including kitchen facilities
- Access to meeting rooms
- Event priority if fully booked
- Own locker
- Mail service
- Access to high-speed internet provided by Liquid
- Hall of Fame feature
- Marketing feature
To apply, applicants must submit their startup ideas through the relevant online application form before November 15th, 2020 (GMT+2 23:59). Qualified applicants will be notified via email of their successful submission. Please click here to apply: Application Form.
To find out more details about the program, please read the Terms&Conditions.
Ministry of Youth and Culture & Partners Launch the Young Entrepreneur’s Resilience Fund
Ministry of Youth and Culture & Partners Launch the Young Entrepreneur’s Resilience Fund
On October 29, 2020, the Ministry of Youth and Culture (MYCULTURE), the United Nations Development Programme, the Korea International Cooperation Agency and other partners launched the Young Entrepreneurs Resilience Fund (the Fund) to support young entrepreneurs whose businesses have been negatively affected by COVID-19 or who have developed an innovation in response to the pandemic.
The 500 million Rwandan Francs fund aims to help young entrepreneurs recover from COVID-19 and to play a role in its prevention. This intervention was initiated based on results from a rapid survey conducted by MYCULTURE to assess the effects of COVID-19 on youth-led businesses. Eligibility criteria includes:
- For existing businesses (which must have been in operation prior to January 2019), business owners must be Rwandan youth living in Rwanda between the ages of 16 and 35
- For new innovations created as a response to COVID-19, business owners must be Rwandan youth living in Rwanda between the ages of 16 and 30
The application deadline is on 18th November 2020.
For more information on the Fund, please visit: https://bit.ly/3mNejGX.
For any questions, please contact (+250) 785270318; info@myculture.gov.rw or (+250) 788235468/785270318; irona1consultants@gmail.com
References: https://bit.ly/3mQGCEG