We are excited to announce the 15 startups that have been selected for the Make-IT accelerator kicking off in January 2018.

Over 280 applications from startups across Africa and 2 selection stages after, the Make-IT accelerator is set to bloom come January 2018.

The Make-IT program in Africa aims to promote digital innovation for sustainable and inclusive development in sub-saharan Africa. The program is implemented by the German International Cooperation (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as part of BMZ’s Digital Africa Initiative.

Additionally, the Make-IT accelerator is designed to strengthen entrepreneurs’ skills for scaling their innovation and achieve growth, cooperation and investment readiness. The accelerator is being implemented in Nigeria and Kenya in collaboration with Endeva, CcHUB (Nigeria) Gearbox and Nailab (Kenya).

Through the accelerator, up to 60 entrepreneurs would get access to a 9 month capacity development program with benefits including;

i. Individual scaling plans and master classes to acquire ‘growth readiness’ in a 3-month accelerator

ii. Corporate partnerships, training and exposure events to acquire ‘cooperation readiness’

iii. Bootcamps and mentoring to acquire ‘investment readiness’

The selection process was in 2 stages. The first involved the shortlisting of 30 startups (per country) to undergo a physical selection in Lagos and Nairobi by an international jury made up of the Make-IT implementation team, reps from implementing hubs and experts from Africa and Europe. And the second stage, designed to provide value for all shortlisted startups adopted three grading categories – Peer to peer pitches, workshop scoring and interview before a local 8 member jury. It was at the stage that the final 15 startups were selected on Wednesday 22nd November.

The 15 startups that would be undergoing the 9 month program including the 3-month accelerator in January are;

Doctoora e-Health Ltd (Nigeria), DoLessons (Nigeria), Embinix Automation (Nigeria), Farm Fresh (Gambia), Genius Family (Senegal), Ghalani (Ghana), Insights Africa (Nigeria), Kitovu Technology Company (Nigeria), Mykolo (Nigeria), Placements Africa (Nigeria), PreDiagn (Nigeria), Print Anything (Nigeria), Social Lender (Nigeria), Slide Safe (Nigeria), Track Your Build (Sierra Leone)

The 3-month accelerator program kicks off on January 11th with a two-day bootcamp. Use the #MakeIT2018 to follow the exciting journey of the 15 startups.