Midweek Check-In: Your Insider Guide to Tech Grants & Government Funding
The free money you’ve been looking for? It might just be here.
Mbolo, Dear Innovator! 🌍
That’s ‘Hello’ in Cameroon’s Ewondo language.
You learn something new every day, right?
Speaking of learning and doing new things, what’s one new thing you’ve decided to do with your tech company this month?
Are you experimenting with AI? 👀
Trying out a new market segment? or Leveraging your existing market share to the fullest?
Anyhoo, we’re here for the real tea today: tech grants and government funding! 💰
Let’s talk about FREE money
You guys have spoken (via our last poll, remember?), and we heard you loud and clear. VCs are cool and all, but what about funding options that don’t demand a slice of your company?
Here are 4 solid funding options for African tech innovators, and with zero equity drama involved
1️⃣ Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme
📍 Where: Africa-wide
💡 Focus: Startups and SMEs across all sectors
💰 What’s in it for you? $5,000 seed capital, mentorship, and training
🚀 Why apply? They’ve supported over 18,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015. You could be next!
2️⃣ Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize
📍 Where: Pan-African
💡 Focus: Entrepreneurs solving real problems
💰 What’s in it for you? Up to $300,000 in grant funding
🚀 The catch? Finalists stand the chance to get global exposure.
3️⃣ Anzisha Prize
📍 Where: Africa-wide
💡 Focus: Young entrepreneurs
💰 What’s in it for you? Up to $100,000 in funding and mentorship
🚀 If you’re a young tech innovator, this is THE programme for you.
4️⃣ Digital Africa’s Bridge Fund
📍 Where: Francophone & Anglophone Africa
💡 Focus: Early-stage tech startups
💰 What’s in it for you? Up to €50,000 in grants and bridge financing
🚀 Why them? It’s backed by the French government to support African digital entrepreneurs.
HERE’S THE THING…
Grants might take patience (because… bureaucracy 🫠), but they’re really worth it when you don’t have to give up equity.
Would you like a private event to give you an exclusive breakdown of how to ace these grant applications? Do you want the real gist on tech founders who’ve secured them?
Drop a comment, and let us know what you think 👇
ICYMI:
1) Get on the AI train. Everybody else is doing it!
2) They are saving lives and making the world a better place 🥺
