MIT Foundry Fellowship has opened call for applications for the 2024-25 cohort ,inviting entrepreneurs who are committed to leading the acceleration and interconnection of Africa’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.
The Foundry Fellowship is an eight-month program designed for principled leaders who seek to catalyze systems transformation and inclusive growth across Africa.
The fellowship is a cohort-based program, with 10-15 fellows accepted into the cohort each year. Going through the fellowship as a cohort gives fellows the supportive context to move beyond current inflection points to define the next stage in their entrepreneurial and leadership journeys.
The curriculum includes personal leadership seminars, coursework with MIT faculty, and experiential tours of innovation ecosystems as a cohort, including tours of multiple ecosystems on the African continent.
This unique program prepares fellows to lead initiatives that accelerate the development of ecosystems both within their home markets and throughout the continent.
The fellowship is targeting Africa-based entrepreneurs who have founded and scaled a for-profit, innovation-driven company, and those who are now at an inflection point and are preparing to transition into leadership in one of the following ways:
·By transitioning from running your innovation-driven enterprise to taking on a new leadership role within the ecosystem; for example, you may be launching a venture capital fund, starting an accelerator, or pursuing a path in policymaking;
·By founding a venture or support organization that will specifically help build innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems across Africa; or
·By expanding your innovation-driven enterprise across the continent, and through that expansion, focus on ecosystem development to reach your growth goals.
·Founders from the same company may apply, but each founder must complete a unique application. Each founder will be considered independent of a co-founder.