Village Capital FinTech for Agriculture: East Africa 2015 Accelerator for Innovative Financial Technology Start-Ups.

Application Deadline: February 25 2015

Training and investing in financial technology and service ventures in EA

Applications are open for the Village Capital FinTech for Agriculture accelerator’s East African Session, with the programme aiming to unlock innovations which improve access to financial services for smallholder farmers.

Village Capital FinTech for Agriculture: East Africa 2015 is the premier accelerator for innovative financial technology start-ups that positively impact unbanked and underbanked individuals.The program is focused on peer mentoring and peer selection of the best teams by their peers. The program consists of three skills-based workshops focused on training entrepreneurs to assume an “investor lens,” with coaching and mentoring from other entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts. The program will culminate with a Demo Day, at which each company will present to a group of investors.

The program also includes $100,000 in pre-committed investment funds for the top two start-ups ($50,000 each), as selected by the entrepreneurs themselves through a peer-review process. The accelerator starts April 15th, 2015 with a four-day workshop and runs for three months. Subsequent engagement will include two additional intensive weekend sessions, online presentations, and the Demo Day in June.

Village Capital is a seed-stage impact investment fund that identifies, trains and invests in high-growth, high-impact companies across the globe. This accelerator will be Village Capital’s 33rd accelerator program worldwide and its first specifically focused on financial technology and financial service innovations in Eastern Africa.

This application form will be supplemented by a short data-collection survey. Companies that are selected and decide to participate will pay a $300 refundable deposit before the first workshop. When the team completes the program, the deposit will be returned in full. Participants are responsible for their own lodging and transportation. Please contact us with any questions.

Businesses located and/or operating in the following countries are encouraged to apply: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Egypt.

• Successful applicants will receive business development training, mentorship from industry experts and investors, as well as the opportunity to engage with potential customers; with the two outstanding startups of the cohort to win US$50,000 each to grow their businesses.
• 12 applicants will be chosen to participate in the three month accelerator, based on their capacity to increase the income of smallholder farmers through increasing access to financial services solutions
• The program also features $100,000 of pre-committed investment, $50,000 each for the top two enterprises, with a twist: the entrepreneurs themselves will determine which two companies receive investment! The program is structured as three intensive 4-day sessions over 3 months with additional remote collaboration online between sessions.

*Program Dates*

Session 1: April 15-18
Session 2: May 19-22
Session 3: June 22-25
Demo Day: June 24

Please note: These sessions will take place in Nairobi (in person) and dates are subject to change.

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