SAIS Female Founder Award 2024 // Apply Before 29th February
Calling all exceptional female founders in Africa! Are you driving positive change in the AgTech, FoodTech, or ClimateTech sectors with your innovative business? The SAIS Female Founder Award 2024 wants to hear from you.
Apply to showcase your vision, impact, and potential to become a leading force in Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape.
The SAIS Female Founder Award is an initiative by “Scaling Digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups” (SAIS), a project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
It is co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bayer Cares Foundation.
The award seeks to strengthen the visibility of female-led startups and promote a more equitable landscape for female founders to thrive.
The SAIS Female Founder Award 2024 takes place at VivaTech in Paris on 22- 25 May 2024 in the form of a pitching competition. The three selected winners will be travelling to Paris to attend the event in person.
It celebrates visionary female entrepreneurs who have not only achieved success in their fields but also make a significant social impact and inspire other women to pursue entrepreneurship.
Winners will receive in-kind support worth up to 30,000€ for the first place, up to 15,000€ for the second place, and up to 7,000€ for the third place
This in-kind support can be vouchers and various tailored services to best boost their business, including:
- Round trip airfare to Paris and accommodation for the entire stay at VivaTech 2024
- Vouchers for special expenses (e.g. online trainings, software licenses, and other services).
- Personalized coaching sessions with local and international experts based on individual needs. For example, marketing, investor relations and pitching to further increase visibility.
- Facilitation of connections for your business development and potential scaling vision by providing local ecosystem integration
- Introduction and involvement to SAIS Female Leader Circle Community. Here, women in the start-up ecosystem participate from Inputs sessions with experts from different areas and peer-to-peer exchange sessions. These monthly meetings serve as a platform for discussions, networking opportunities, and skill development tailored to the unique challenges faced by women in the entrepreneurial realm.
- SAIS Female Founder Award Certificate and a seal for your website to recognize your business
Who Can Apply
Your start-up should have an easily understandable and convincing business model (clear statement of the problem, clear digital solution, clear customer segment, and clear revenue stream).
To be eligible for the SAIS Female Founder Award, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Founder: African female (co)founder of a startup/growth-stage business with technical experience in the area of operation.
- Impact: Promotion of female visionary leadership, contribution to women’s economic empowerment, positive impact on industry problem-solving, and fostering diversity in the startup ecosystem.
- Team: Startup with a team of at least three people (including the founder) working full-time.
- Digital Product/Service: Startup offering a digital solution or with a strong digital component in AgTech, FoodTech, or ClimateTech sectors in Africa.
- Legal Form: Registered and operating business on the African continent with an official certificate of registration.
- Market Access and Traction: Business registered at least two years before application submission, with clear evidence of traction (customer base, revenue).
- Business Model: Unique value proposition, clear problem statement, defined customer segment, and understandable, convincing business model.
Evaluation Process: Applications will be evaluated based on entrepreneurial vision and resilience, social and economic impact, technical and industry expertise, contribution to empowering female entrepreneurs, and fostering diversity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Interested applicants can send their applications by 29th February. You can access more information about the programme here
