Startups in Africa have another reason to smile after the Africa Startup Ecosystem announced the launch of the first digital accelerator for the region, promising them increased exposure to global investors and resources.

As a subsidiary of Global Startup Ecosystem, which provides digital programs for startup ecosystems in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Middle East, Europe, and Latin America, the Africa Startup Ecosystem is the home of Africa’s entrepreneurial community hosting digital events, boot camps, accelerators and startup expos for the region.

In a statement sent to TechMoran, Christine Souffrant Ntim said, “The future is digital, so startup ecosystems in emerging markets need to take advantage of that with programs like this one. We launched digital accelerators for entrepreneurs of Africa and the diaspora to close the resource gap and diversify global startup success stories”.

The pilot accelerator program on January 9-10, 2017 will accept 100 startups out of an applicant pool of thousands. Post the program, data and insights will be sent to regional influencers, incubators and accelerators to support startup innovation programming in the future.

The accelerator program begins with a full startup development boot camp covering ideation, product development, marketing, customer acquisition and funding. The boot camp is followed by workshop keynotes from Lean Launchpad, Forbes list entrepreneurs and key investors. The program concludes with a demo day where the top ten companies pitch in front of judges from across the region for top prizes.