Deadline: 27-Sep-20
The Southern Africa Innovation Support Programme, SAIS 2 RE: innovation Challenge is now calling for proposals from projects to pilot and validate solutions to make Southern African startup ecosystems more resilient and better able to face an uncertain future.
Startup ecosystems play a critical role in providing an environment in which African startups can thrive and grow. In many countries, these systems are still young and are often vulnerable to unforeseen events such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Unexpected shocks can interrupt the operation of startups, incubators, universities, and even large firms for a significant time. Therefore, it is vital to strengthen the ecosystems’ ability to rapidly recover from negative events. Such resilience is also the key enabling factor to ecosystems’ development and growth.
For this reason, SAIS 2 s RE: innovation challenge is looking for visionaries who can offer technology-enabled solutions that strengthen innovation and startup ecosystems in Southern Africa.
SAIS 2 RE recognizes technologies in the line of the fourth industrial revolution, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and advanced wireless information and communication technologies, as empowering technologies driving the scalability of startup innovations and the resilience in ecosystems.
Funding Information
- A maximum of six (6) projects will be selected pilot testing or validating the proposed solution.
- Each selected project will receive a SAIS 2 RE grant of between EUR 30,000 and EUR 50,000 per project, depending on the project budget proposed. The applicant has to provide at least 20% matching funding to counter the SAIS 2 RE 2 grant (10% cash and 10% in-kind).
- Selected projects will have a maximum of five (5) months start and finish their project, including the project launch, piloting/validation, and final reporting.
- Selected projects will have an opportunity to present the solutions and the results to a network of entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem stakeholders, which could lead to new opportunities for the proposed solution.
Objectives
- SAIS 2 RE: innovation’s objective is to find scalable solutions that can improve resilience in innovation, entrepreneurship, and/or startup ecosystems against uncertainties and unexpected occurrences.
- A resilient ecosystem can comply with external and internal influences and continue functioning without halting activities, or reorganize without losing its underlying function.
- Resilience is a critical feature not only for a speedy recovery or tolerating change but also for the ecosystem’s development and growth.
Eligibility Criteria
- You have identified a challenge to and a solution that strengthens the resilience of a startup ecosystem in one of the following countries: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, or Zambia.
- The solution is technology-enabled and easily adapted for quick implementation.
- You have a project consortium comprising innovation support organizations such as incubators, hubs, labs, and accelerators as well as research/academia, private sector and public entities, and/or NGOs hosting and supporting youth entrepreneurship and startups.
- Your project consortium must have at least one innovation support organization as a member, which will also act as the project coordinator.
- Your project coordinator is a registered legal entity in one of the five SAIS 2 RE partner countries (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia).
For more information, visit https://www.saisprogramme.org/fund/reinnovation