Women entrepreneurs invited to apply for the AWIEF Growth Accelerator 2021
The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) is inviting dynamic and innovative female entrepreneurs to apply for the AWIEF Growth Accelerator 2021 cohort, which will be their fourth cohort.
AWIEF said after six months of hard work and being challenged as part of their Growth Accelerator cohort, participants will be ready to tell their story and showcase their business to the world.
“The programme offers three two-day bootcamps, master classes led by international experts covering all scaling fundamentals, one on one tailored mentorship and leadership coaching, connection to corporate in their industry for valuable partnership opportunities and as customers,” they said.
AWIEF also promised that participants will be able to have access to investors, will have a demo pitching event at their 7th annual AWIEF Conference and Award scheduled to take place on 2 and 3 December 2021, will have a free delegate pass to AWIEF 2021 conference sessions, will join the AWIEF Community an alumni growth programme, which is access to a pan-African and global network and peer connection to other women entrepreneurs, continued online post-programme support, e-learning, events and tailored introductions.
Women who are eligible for the Accelerator must own businesses that are Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) which are at least 50% female black-owned, their businesses must be in a post revenue phase, businesses that are scalable and innovative venture, business that are in operation for not less than three years and business that are seeking investment or funding to scale.
Applications open on 10 May 2021 and close on 14 June 2021. The recruitment process is from 15 to 30 June 2021 and the Accelerator starts on 12 July 2021. For the 2021 cohort, 20 female entrepreneurs will be selected from sectors including technology, agribusiness, financial services, manufacturing, health, education, tourism and hospitality, creative industries and renewable energy.
The Accelerator is designed to support the unique needs of early stage and high growth-oriented women led ventures with business modelling, growth strategy training, corporate advisory, mentorship, networks and access to strategic partnerships. It also provides capital raising support for growth, scale and sustainability and builds women’s entrepreneurial leadership capacity, connects them with appropriate sources of capital and helps them scale.
