from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
Cape Town Bureau
CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – GOOGLE is to increase its commitment to the Startup Black Founders Fund for Africa with an additional US$1 million in funding.
This will result in a commitment of $4 million to 60 eligible black-founded startups across the continent.
Applications for the second cohort are now open. Google will support ten more founders this year.
The Black Founders Fund Africa is open to startups that meet the eligibility criteria in Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
While these countries are the prime focus due to their active tech and startup ecosystems, strong applications from other African countries will also be considered.
Selected startups will receive between $50 000 and $100 000 non-dilutive cash awards and up to $200 000 per startup in Google Cloud credits, support in the form of training, and access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling the challenges unique to each startup.
Applications will close on May 31 and winners announced on July 29.
“We are hopeful that the support received by the black founders will enable them to grow their business and in turn drive economic growth in Africa as they create solutions and give back to their communities,” said Folarin Aiyegbusi, Head of Startup Ecosystem, Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Google for Startups Black Founders fund was launched in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement as part of Google’s racial equality commitments.
– CAJ News