Acceleration Program in Africa

TECHNICAL APPROACH

About Seedstars in Africa:

Seedstars, founded in 2013, is a Swiss company, on a mission to impact people's lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. Seedstars pursues this mission in over 90 emerging market countries through a range of capacity building, investment, and innovation ecosystem building initiatives and specializes in supporting digital entrepreneurs (tech) and traditional, yet innovative enterprises (non-tech).

Seedstars is active in 27+ Sub-Saharan African countries. The African continent represents over 26% of Seedstars' network. Currently, Seedstars in Africa has a database of 1000+ Entrepreneurship Support Organisations on the continent with whom it actively collaborates and executes programs through the "Seedstars Local Ambassador Program". Furthermore, in 2015 we founded Seedstars Africa Ventures (SAV), a fund with a target of USD 100 million to support Seed+ and Series A ventures across Sub-Saharan Africa.

In Africa, Seedstars has physical campuses in Lagos (Nigeria), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast). Through our partnership with Africaworks, we are also able to leverage their presence in Accra (Ghana) , Cape Town (South Africa) and Nairobi (Kenya).

In 2020 alone we operated 20 programs, more than 150 virtual events and have impacted more than 25'000 entrepreneurs on the continent. Our key partners on the continent include but are not limited to: Africa Development Bank, IFC, World Bank, Microsoft and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

About the Program

Roadmap and Milestones

Seedstars proposes to conduct the Seedstars Impact Investment Readiness program. This Impact investment readiness program is a virtual run, a three-month mentorship-driven program that focuses on providing the right tools to entrepreneurs and creating a strong community that acts as a strategic ally for the founders. It also focuses on implementing experimental, data-driven methodologies and a mentor network available to increase entrepreneurs' competitiveness. The program will be conducted in the following phases:

Phase 0: Screening and Selection process and a Needs Assessment of the selected participants.

Phase 1: Capacity Building, Networking & Investment readiness matchmaking.

Phase 0: Screening and Selection process and a Needs Assessment of the selected participants.

Seedstars' Program Design approach follows the Human-Centered philosophy, meaning that the participants and their enterprises are simultaneously the 'why' of any activities and the focal point of all programs. Understanding the participants' needs is especially important, therefore Phase 0 was aimed at understanding the entrepreneurs' needs. For this, Seedstars will survey its database of 1600+ startups, ecosystem builders, mentors, and ambassadors and will identify the most suitable participants in the emerging markets that Cardano has a presence.

The communication campaign includes:

1 social media plan (including creatives),

1 facebook campaign,

1 linkedin campaign,

1 twitter campaign,

1 Press Release announcing the call for applications,

1 email campaign to relevant stakeholders/network

For collecting, managing and addressing the applications or entries for the program, Seedstars will set up and manage an online application tool for receiving entries and registrations, along with managing correspondence with including but not limited to acknowledgements, questions and answers and status on applications. Seedstars will make sure to include previous funds at the moment of screening and selecting.

The following services/activities are already planned for this project:

High Level Virtual Screening:

100% of submissions screened

shortlist relevant ventures including ranking/score and insights

Application Management

1 rejection email sent to all rejected startups including feedback within 2 - 5 days after final review

1 acceptance email to startups within 2 - 5 days after final including feedback and invitation to attend bootcamp

100% of questions from entrepreneurs answered within 5 days

10 ventures to be selected

Needs Assessment

In order to ensure maximum relevance and usefulness, Seedstars will conduct a needs assessment. The purpose of this is to dive deep into the needs, requirements and challenges faced by the target beneficiaries and to allow for tailored content and module development required for the later Program Phase. These activities will allow Seedstars to personalize the program to fit the needs of the target beneficiaries while also engaging with key stakeholders and partners to create a collaborative environment.

Phase 1: Capacity Building & Networking

The next phase is a 3-month virtual program that unites entrepreneurs from various emerging markets and focuses on the right content, activities, tools and methods to help aspiring teams to build and scale their ideas . The chosen participants will benefit from mentorship, workshops and peer-to-peer learning.

Program Methodology & Proposed Approach

With the Impact Readiness Program, Seedstars aims at ensuring the sustainable growth and scalability of the participants' ideas.

Program Components

-Bootcamp

The bootcamps are 2h - 2.5 hour expert-led workshops, consisting of 1h to 1.5h theory, followed by 30 minutes of practical application (homework exercises, simulations, and case studies). A required number of experts and mentors will be assigned to guide the startups and assist with the exercises.

-On-demand Mentorship Platform (Seedstars Mentorship Hub)

Additionally, the SMEs can draw upon the Seedstars Mentorship Hub, an online marketplace that matches startups with the right mentors from a global pool of subject matter experts. Seedstars uses an existing network of over 1150 mentors, and over 7 years of working with startups in emerging markets to truly understand the challenges they face, connect them with the best experts to help with their growth & impact.

-Investment Readiness Score:

In order to provide the ventures with a data-driven understanding of where they stand in their fundraising journey, Seedstars will conduct an individual assessment of the Investment Readiness Score. Seedstars' team will evaluate all beneficiaries using a purpose-built algorithm - the Investment Readiness Score - to evaluate the current performance of the ventures accepted, and give data-driven recommendations for areas of improvement.

-Experience Sharing Sessions (Group Mentoring)

During each group mentoring session, the entrepreneurs share their approach and learnings according to the format that ensures peer-to-peer learning, allowing the startups to give and receive feedback from each other. The sessions ensure that the knowledge gained during the 1:1 training is put into practice & gives additional support to integrate the learnings.

-Hot Topics:

The startups will receive a series of workshops on what Seedstars defines as 'hot topics', as they represent the current state of the world, the challenges that entrepreneurs face, and the skills and know-how they need in this world to succeed. Beyond the Acceleration strategy know-how, Seedstars believes that knowledge of current topics will help the entrepreneurs to succeed both at a company, and at a personal level. The Hot Topic workshops are 2-hour workshops led by Seedstars experts.

-Investor Sessions:

Seedstars will conduct 3 investor sessions with the participants to outline and develop their investment strategy. The sessions will teach participants the importance of fundraising skills, optimizing their investment score.

-Networking Events:

To bring the program into the spotlight, Seedstars will conduct an ecosystem networking event. This event could involve a panel discussion with different key stakeholders. This event has several aims:

(1) it creates additional buzz around the program

(2) it attracts attention and creates potential opportunities for the participants.

The Investment Readiness Program can be constructed from the following modules, based on the identified needs of the startups

Getting to MVP:Intro to Lean methodology and canvas, Aiming for Product / Market Fit, Understanding your Unique value proposition, Building your MVP.

Business Metrics for Growth:Calculating your unit economics,Understanding your AARRR funnel

Setting up your North Star Metric and KPIs,Understanding growth levers to scale faster.

Getting Ready for Fundraising:Developing your Fundraising strategy,Managing your Cap Table

Defining valuations,Preparing for due diligence.

Preparing for Growth:Introduction to Growth,Experimentation process,Growth Model,Growth Goals and Sprints.

Managing your Talent:Creating your company culture,Becoming a good leader, Manage your recruitment, Leading effective interviews

Therefore, a week can look like this:

Week: 1 Bootcamp, 1 experience sharing session, 1 mentoring session, 1 peer-to-peer mentoring.

Timeline:

Phase 0: A preparation, sourcing and selection phase spans 1-2 months.

Phase 1: Program will be run in a 3 month period to permit sufficient time to learn the methodologies and demonstrate progress.

Milestones

Below is an outline of the KPIs Seedstars will use as motivational milestones to measure the success of the Programme. Please note these are not fixed: if the needs assessment or data tracked along the way suggest these should change, Seedstars will pivot accordingly with reference to the learnings.

Sourcing & Screening campaign:

1 application backend managed

100% of candidates' questions answered

100% of applications screened

12 recruited startups

15 ecosystems sourced on the Seedstars database

Impact Readiness Programme:

12 startups participating (total)

5 startup bootcamps run throughout the program

1 Participation feedback Survey

70+ Net Promoter Score (NPS)

3 investors sessions

5 Hot topics run throughout the program

2 Networking Sessions

Success Metrics:

We will track the success of this project by measuring the:

Total number of entrepreneurs who get involved in the Impact Readiness Score Program

Number of entrepreneurs joining the sessions and workshops.

Number of 1-to-1 support provided to entrepreneurs.

Team:

Adaeze Zita Edokwe, Program Manager. Adaeze develops and builds startup communities through programs and events. Her expertise lies in successfully managing operational processes, developing best practices, planning and monitoring all program, project or event preparation, through execution to wrap-up, and leveraging internal systems to facilitate improved efficiency and performance.

Daria Markova, Entrepreneurship in Residence. As an experienced founder turned educator, Daria trains and coaches startups herself too. She has trained 500+ founders and intrapreneurs so far. She has worked with renowned universities, accelerators, and corporations. Daria focuses on Social impact, Future of Work, and Sustainable startups.

Konstantin Hapkemeyer, Investment Analyst/Grants Manager. Constantin is Tech investor focused on early stage emerging & frontier markets.

Maria Camila Albornoz, Brand and Communication Manager. Maria Camila is a designer, marketer and communicator, with international experience in communication, digital marketing, and project management. Social media strategist and brand management.

Grace Tun Myint, Social Media Associate. Grace is an enthusiast & community networker with more than 5 years of experience in social content creation.

Ratko Ivanovic, IT Specialist and Support, Ratko is Founder at Zeal Agency and Co-Founder at Snipers.sale, Ratko loves to find ways to break down and automate complex activities. R

Budget:

Our budget covers:

Sourcing Screening and Selection

1 high level screening campaign

1 selection application management campaign

Total:USD$15,000

Investment Readiness Program

5 bootcamps

1 readiness program flat rate

3 investment sessions

2 networking events

5 hot topic sessions

Investment Readiness Score

Total:USD $47,000

1-to-1 and mentoring support

30 mins per support session

Mentorship Hub Platform

Total: USD$15,000

Application Portal

Creating an application portal to serve as a landing page and to host the main information about the program

Total: USD$2000

Marketing

1 social media plan (including creatives)

1 facebook campaign

1 linkedin campaign

1 twitter campaign

1 Press Release announcing the call for applications

1 email campaign to relevant stakeholders/network

Total: USD$6500

Requested funds in USD $85,500