Villgro Africa, an early-stage business incubator and impact investor, Innovate Now an Assistive Technology Accelerator  and the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) a State Corporation under the Ministry of Education, have partnered to support  entrepreneurs  with  Assistive  Technology  hardware  innovations.

Through  a  call  for applications, innovators who are developing such solutions have been invited to apply. The partnership will see entrepreneurs with innovations that are rehabilitative, assistive and adaptive for  people living with disabilities or the elderly receive funding of up-to USD 20,000, training and
mentorship on investor readiness, and get access to investor networks. The call is now LIVE at villgroafrica.org/call-for-applications-3

As part of this initiative, an innovation bootcamp will provide selected entrepreneurs with business skills to support commercially viable hardware technology and strengthen the capacity of Kenyan innovators with regards to scaling their enterprise and impact.

Who is eligible to apply?

This call shall be limited to Kenyan citizens who have the skills to actualize their hardware product.

How will you benefit?

    Funding – Initial investment funding pool of $20,000.

    Access to Networks – Access to development and investor networks from Innovate Now,
KeNIA and Villgro Africa.

    Investment  Readiness        –  Receive  mentorship  and  training  that  will  enable  you  to

communicate effectively with potential partners and investors.

Selection Criteria

    Awareness of user needs – What work have you done to understand user needs and align
with them?

    Potential  for  Impact        –  What  is  your  assistive  technology’s  potential  for  social  and/or

environmental impact?

    Potential for scale – What is the potential size of the market for the assistive technology
hardware innovation

    Maturity  of  assistive  technology  hardware  product                  –  How  advanced  is  the  product;

functional prototype stage or market ready? Is Design for Manufacture & Assembly done?

    Team strength – Do you have a cross functional team e.g. comprising a doctor, engineer and
marketer, that has the experience to drive the business to success?

How to apply?

    Applicants must first log in to their user account on VC4A to access the full application. If you
don’t have a user account on VC4A, you will be asked to sign up and complete 3 onboarding
questions, before you can start with your application.