Does your startup address ocean-minded issues such as climate change, pollution, or overexploitation of the ocean? Then the OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program is for you.
The six-month virtual accelerator programme, which is the second cohort, seeks to support six of the most promising impact-for-profit African startups ensuring the preservation and restoration of the ocean.
Designed to nurture an environmentally conscious and profitable economy, the program will effectively mitigate the effects of global warming as well as the overexploitation and pollution of the oceans. It will leverage its highly qualified network of stakeholders and facilitators to deliver a program that seeks out sustainable pathways yielding stable profits (ROIs) and avenues for scalable growth for startups throughout Africa.
Benefits
The benefits include Service Package, Mentorship & Support, as well as Networking and Fund-Raising Support.
Service Package
- $75,000 worth of cloud services from the program’s partner AWS Activate
- Free access to IoT prototyping from another partner, Macrocomm
- Over $40,000 worth of mechanical engineering design software licences and support for prototyping and virtual testing, from partner 3DExperience Lab
- Access to Dassault Systèmes, Amazon Web Services and international marketplaces and/or salesforce for finished products of accelerated startups
- Advisory sessions with: Cullinan & Associates (international environmental law firm), Cape AI on machine learning and AI implementation, Macrocomm on data management and implementation of IoT, SWEN Blue Oceans Partners (ocean impact Venture Capitalist fund), Ocean14 Capital (ocean impact Private Equity fund), WWF – South Africa, Dept of Oceanography University of Cape Town, EuroSIMA (oceantech experts) and more!
Mentorship & Support
- Participation to an in-person training bootcamp in Cape Town
- Tailored business skills and personal development 1-to-1 coaching
- Sales, Product Development, Communication and Business Development Support
- Access to the OceanHub’s network of scientific, business, impact and investment experts from international corporations, foundations, universities and IGOs
Network
- Access to networking events and conferences, including a stand and stage time at the Ocean Innovation Africa annual summit
- Access to potential clients (market leads) for local and international expansion
- Access to OceanHub’s international network of ocean-impact incubators/accelerators to scale overseas
- Access to key external partners
Fund-Raising Support
- Potential funding of up to $10,000 from OceanHub Africa
- Support in preparing and running investor pitches, including training sessions with partner investors directly
- Support in structuring deals, including reviews by transactional and commercial lawyers
- Access to a large portfolio of impact investors part of our ecosystems (inc. SWEN Blue Oceans, Ocean14 Capital, Finca Ventures, Conservation International Ventures, Builders Vision, AquaSpark, Athelia) as well as corporate venture capitalist funds
Eligibility
- Your startup should be ocean-minded: it has a direct or indirect positive impact on the oceans (addressing climate change, pollution or overexploitation of the ocean) and promotes ocean equity
- You must be a for-profit company and operate in Africa
- You must have a scalable service or product available on the market or soon to be available on the market
- Your product or service is clearly innovative and/or your business model is disruptive
- You must be looking for investments or new markets
How to apply
Apply for the OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program before the deadline on Sunday, May 22, 2022.
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