Kenya-based telco, Safaricom in partnership with startup incubator, @iBizAfrica has announced the third edition of its three month Appwiz Challenge for startups in Kenya.
Disrupt Africa reports that the program will provide participating startups with mentorship and entrepreneurial training during the three-month incubation period at the @iBizAfrica incubator in Strathmore University and funding.
“We identified a gap in the market, where one of the main challenges startups face is the lack of funds to transition from prototype to market-ready product,” said Joseph Ogutu, Safaricom director for strategy and innovation. “So we developed a competition and training module that covers all the basics these innovators need to build successful start-ups. We’re asking them to participate in groups of three, so that we can help them appreciate the value of teamwork in a business as we nurture their startups,” he added.
Three startups will be eventually picked from different startup categories. The winners will receive funding of KES1.5 million (US$14,700), KES1 million (US$9,800) and KES500,000 (US$4,900) for the first, second and third places respectively.
Disrupt Africa says applications are currently open, to close by August 16, 2015, but application portal on the project website is yet to open. Interested applicants can check here to keep in the loop.
Source: Disrupt Africa
Photo Credit: StartupStockPhotos via Pixabay Cc
