Applications are open for the Google for Startup Black Founders Fund Africa. This fund will provide grants and technical support to early-stage Black-founded startups in Africa to grow their companies and create meaningful impact in their communities.
The non-dilutive $3 million fund will be allocated across a pipeline of 50 investable early-stage startups in Africa. The fund is open to all startups that meet the criteria, with priority given to Google for Startups Accelerator and Partner program alumni. This fund will be given along with mentorship support and Google platform credits to help the startups grow.
A startup that is headquartered in Africa or has a legal presence on the continent is eligible. A diverse founding team with at least one Black C-level founding member, as well as a technology startup with a live product in the market or a business where technology is critical to their potential to scale, are necessary (not for consultancies or not-for-profits). Google product compatibility is required.
The following African countries will be accepted as applicants: Botswana, Cameroun, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Each startup will receive either $50,000 or $100,000. Funding varies according to each startup’s product development stage, current needs, and how much they’ve already raised.
Each selected company will also receive $220,000 in Google Cloud Credits and Ad Grants, as well as mentoring, technical and scaling assistance from the best of Google. The equity-free fund is available to entrepreneurs developing for Africa, on the continent.
Google has partnered with the Co-Creation Hub, a Google for Startups partner and leading tech community hub with a presence in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda, to distribute the funding to the 50 selected companies across Africa.
The deadline for application is July 7th 2021.