Recently, four African startups — two each from Ghana and Nigeria — were selected for the fifth cohort of the Washington DC-based PeaceTech Accelerator. They include Lagos-based Proptech Muster, Nigerian talent marketplace Coven Works, Accra-based back-end platform Devless and Ghanaian supply chain platform Jetstream Africa.
About the Accelerator:
The PeaceTech Accelerator is the first major international PeaceTech program powered by cloud innovation and dedicated to scaling startups from around the world. The Accelerator, which is housed at the United States Institute of Peace, is a partnership between C5, PeaceTech Lab, SAP NS2 and Amazon Web Services.
PeaceTech is recognized as the application of technology to assist civilians living in conflict and crisis zones. Startups are selected based on their ability to produce innovative technologies that manage, mitigate, predict, or prevent conflict and promote sustainable peace.
The PeaceTech Accelerator is an eight-week program providing intensive mentorship and training with particular emphasis on cloud technology. We work to help talented startups and nonprofits scale rapidly and sustainably.
Eligibility:
Start-ups that are designing, developing and using new and innovative technologies to help to bring about the end of violent conflicts and promote sustainable peace.
We have a particular focus on the following areas:
- Integrity, accountability, and governance
- Countering violent extremism
- Managing resource scarcity
- Cybersecurity for stability and peacekeeping
- Veteran rehabilitation and Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) in post-conflict countries.
- Refugee protection and care
- Preventing gender violence
For-profit applicant companies must:
- Be incorporated
- Have successfully closed seed funding rounds
- Have a cohesive team
- Have a well-developed business plan
- Be able to scale on the cloud
Non-profit applicants:
- Must be registered
- Have at least $50,000 (USD) in revenues, grants etc
- Have a cohesive team
- Be able to scale on the cloud.
Selected start-ups will send 2/3 team members including the founder(s) and tech lead to attend the full program in Washington, D.C.
Benefits:
- Selected companies/organizations will receive:
- Up to $50,000 Amazon Web Services cloud credits
- $25,000 funding in return for equity for eligible companies
- The opportunity to pitch to potential investors
- Free office space for the duration of the program
- Entry into our participant alumni network
- Access to our international network of mentors and business leaders
Program Dates:
February 4 – March 29, 2019
Application Deadline:
January 21, 2019.
How to Apply:
Click here to get started.