JICA expands  its NINJA Accelerator to South Africa

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has expanded  its NINJA Accelerator to South Africa in partnership with, pan-African tech Accelerator Startupbootcamp AfriTech, and NEC Corporation’s majority-owned African entity NEC XON.

The NINJA Accelerator is a collaborative effort powered by JICA and led by Double Feather Partners, Deloitte Tohmatsu, and supported by local partners and global experts to foster innovation and economic growth in the region.

”The hope is to increase startups’ chances to find new strategic partners, investors, or enterprise client in NEC, and also to help reveal potential exit paths in case of perfect strategic fit. All these outcomes could also be of great value to venture capitalists (VCs) if the selected startup turns out to be a portfolio company” says Kohei Muto, CEO of Double Feather Partners, the Japan-based Africa-focused VC and consulting firm leading the project on behalf of JICA.

This accelerator is a departure from traditional growth accelerators. In addition to its usual hands-on support to tackle startups’ most pressing issues, offering networking opportunities, and a one-week roadshow in Japan, this edition will mainly focus on helping startups achieve growth by validating strategic fit and commercial partnership potential with Japanese corporations. NEC XON was selected among several corporate proposals following a public call for applications issued by JICA through it’s South Africa Office and partner networks.

With Project NINJA, JICA reaffirms its belief that startups are key to addressing Africa’s most pressing socio-economic and environmental issues, and successful collaboration with sustainability-motivated Japanese companies such as NEC would be a win-win.

”Through this program, we aim to foster meaningful partnerships that drive both innovation and sustainable growth across Africa, creating lasting impacts for all involved”, says Yosuke Koide, General Manager : Global Synergy Development at NEC XON.

The JICA NINJA Accelerator in South Africa – Open Innovation Edition invites promising startups to test commercial partnership potential with NEC XON.JICA’s overall aim is to study collaboration models between local startups and Japanese companies, and contribute to local startup ecosystem development through private sector innovation.

Startups selected for the NINJA Accelerator will benefit from a comprehensive and tailored support program, including: an opportunity to co-design and run a three-month PoC with NEC XON to validate commercial partnership potential.

Interested startups are invited to apply through the official NINJA Accelerator website: www.jica.ninja.

Deadline: July 28th, 2024.