OPEN CALL FOR START-UPS IN AFRICA AND EUROPE

Introduction

AEDIB|NET: Bridging Digital Innovation Ecosystems across Africa and Europe is the first step of a broader approach to the African–European collaboration on digitalisation and innovation. The project was launched under the broader political initiative AEDIB. Initiated by EU Member States (France, Belgium, and Germany) and the European Commission to the EC’s Digital 4 Development process (D4D).

Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme and coordinated by GIZ in Germany,  AEDIB|NET brings together a network of strong partners from the African and European innovation ecosystem with the ambition to:

• Inspire the ecosystem actors by developing a supportive innovation policy framework for innovation, building the capacity of marginalised groups and enhancing digital and entrepreneurship skills via a ‘Digital Entrepreneur Skills Academy’.
• Create Digital Innovation by establishing African Digital Innovation Hubs (ADIHs), a Digital Hub Lab, online marketplaces with virtual communities and investor networks. The ADIHs will focus on four topics: Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Cities, Digital Trade and Clean Tech.
• Connect start-ups, SMEs, DIHs, diaspora and other African and European ecosystem players in trans-continental partnerships to facilitate inter-continental collaboration and the creation of a common digital innovation ecosystem.

Further information about the project can be found at: https://aedibnet.eu/

THE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME

On behalf of the AEDIB|NET consortium, the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN) is looking for 100 start–up (50 in Africa and 50 in Europe) to participate in one of the two Virtual Partnership Programmes managed by two innovation centres (1 in Africa and 1 in Europe) within the framework of AEDIB|NET project.

The virtual partnership programme will be designed with core shared elements for all the 50 start-ups in each area, and tailor-made components meeting specific needs detected in the companies within each group. The duration of the programme is designed to be 6 months. The common sessions will be focused on topics such as:

• Business development
• Start-up management
• Strategic planning
• Access to finance/credit and fundraising
• Networking sessions
• Sustainability
• Internationalisation
• EU funding
• IPR, patent, certification
• Culture training

There will be specific sessions dedicated to small groups focused on Sector specific topics, trends, best practices, main stakeholders and sessions with DIHs specialised in each of the AEDIB|NET sectors.

The Virtual Partnership Programme will be designed around the following pillars:

• Capacity-building
• Peer-learning
• Problem-solving
• Learning-by-doing
• For each block, different innovation stakeholders, including more experienced entrepreneurs, second-chance entrepreneurs, and successful start-ups, will be invited to share their experiences and best practices favouring exchanges between the participating start-ups and guest innovation stakeholders established/operating in the region.

The final aim of the programmes will be to allow start-ups to engage in learning and knowledge exchange exercises. Moreover, linking and matchmaking of tech entrepreneurs, innovation partners and intermediaries (i.e., hubs, entrepreneurship supporters, networks, academia) will be fostered to raise the capacity of tech start-ups and to support the linkages between the Digital Innovation Ecosystems in Europe and Africa.

POSSIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE AEDIBNET BOOTCAMPS

The 100 selected participants for this programme will have the possibility of participating in the AEDIB|NET bootcamps.

The first online bootcamp will be open for the 100 participants and will coincide with the Kick-off session of the Partnership Programme.

30 participants will also have the chance to participate in the face-to-face bootcamps as 15 participants will be invited to participate in the bootcamp to be organised in Africa and 15 to the one in Europe. Each face-to-face bootcamp will be organised in conjunction with a major investment event and will be divided into three days, during which they will receive training on investment readiness and will have the chance to pitch in front of a jury and investors.

REQUIREMENTS

The start-ups should be legally established in accordance with their country’s current legislation and have the capacity to prove it, if necessary. They also must be related to one of the groups of specialisation of the project or in the process of developing a product or service applicable to any of these sectors:

• Climate Smart Agriculture
• Smart Cities
• Digital Trade
• Clean Tech

EUROPEAN START-UPS

All start-ups based in EU countries will be eligible to apply.

AFRICAN START-UPS

African start-ups have to be based in some of the countries where some of the DIHs already selected in the project are located:

1. Cameroon
2. Côte D’Ivoire
3. Egypt
4. Kenya
5. Morocco
6. Rwanda
7. Senegal
8. South Africa
9. Tanzania
10. Tunisia
11. Uganda

LANGUAGE

All the contents both, both in the Partnership Programme and in the Bootcamps, will be in English.

SELECTION PROCESS

Please complete the following questionnaire https://forms.gle/5rrzNXkYcbv8fLK38 in as much detail as possible before the 29^th of January 2023 at 23:59h (Extended deadline for European start-ups).

A committee will evaluate the proposals and on the week of the 13^th of February, those selected to participate in the programme will be announced. The first session will be a kick-off meeting, on the 1^st of March, where all the details of the programme that will run for 6 months will be explained.

EVALUATION PROCESS

In the following figure you can find the timetable about how is going to be developed the programme: