African startups invited to apply for Smart Cities Innovation Program

The Call for Applications for the Smart Cities Innovation Program is now officially open! If you are a tech startup operating in the field of Mobility, Housing or Fintech, you are encouraged to apply to #SCIPAfrica accelerator and contribute to shaping the African Cities of tomorrow!

The Smart Cities Innovation Program SCIP is a joint project of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation and “Make-IT in Africa“, which are both implemented by the GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is supported by the Rwandan government. It aims at supporting 30 high-potential start-ups from Africa divided into 3 tracks: Smart Mobility, Smart Housing and Fintech for Affordability.

The start-ups will benefit from individual mentoring, training as well as intensive networking and matchmaking with international business partners and investors, including Volkswagen, Siemens and the African Business Angels Network (ABAN). Startups will also be able to use Green City Kigali, Rwanda’s flagship smart city project, as a sandbox to test their solutions and enter the Rwandan market.

SCIP aims at accelerating start-ups which have:

• Operations in Africa: The startup is operating in one or more African countries.
• Innovative Smart Cities Solutions: The start-up provides an innovative technology-powered product or service and/or an innovative business model in the field of Smart Mobility, Smart Housing, and Fintech for affordability.
• Launched their tech-enabled product or service on the market and have customers.
• Growth & job creation potential: The start-up has the potential to expand its operations and meet significant market demand. Through growth, the start-up has the potential to create jobs and other sources of reliable income through its business model and/or connection to value chains.
• Social & environmental impact: The start-up has the potential to have a positive effect on the environment and/or society.
• Strong & motivated team: The team has a solid background to grow the business and demonstrated motivation to join the program. Startups with female members in management are preferred at equal qualification.

To learn more about SCIP, visit scipafrica.com.

SCIP is a 6-month remote accelerator running from June to December 2021. It will culminate with demo days organized in Kigali in the last weeks of September.

Submit your application form on scipafrica.com before the end of the Open Call on May 9th. If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to submit additional information about your start-up and participate to an interview.