African startups desiring the support of an investor to incubate or accelerate their solutions still have until today to submit their pitches to international accelerator Hseven, which has launched during an e-conference, a call for projects for its support programs intended for innovative and high-impact startups, for the post-Covid19 economic recovery in Morocco and Africa.
Here Is What You Need To Know
- The “Rise-Up”, “Re-Start” and “Disrupt” programs designed by Hseven, will aim to support around 20 startups for each program, at different stages of their journey, ranging from ideation to incubation until acceleration.
- This call for candidates intervenes in the context of the current crisis and highlights the crucial role of startups that provide attractive, concrete and saving solutions all over the world for people who are in the daily fight against Covid-19 as well as the billions of confined people.
- Hseven founder Amine Al Hazzaz stressed the need to identify new startups and new entrepreneurs in Morocco and Africa who can provide local solutions that are better suited to our new context.
- He also called for taking advantage of this crisis by leveraging emerging technologies for more performance and innovation, and reviewed the future sectors on which Morocco and Africa must focus.
What Types Of Startups Is HSEVEN Looking For?
- The project leaders operating in these sectors of the future including the collaborative economy, education technologies and fintech will be selected by HSEVEN according to several criteria for a start of support between July 15 and September 15, clarified Mr. Al Hazzaz.
- As part of the “Rise-up” ideation program, which will take effect on September 1, selected entrepreneurs will have access to a grant of 200,000 dirhams ($54k) to start their entrepreneurial adventure, he noted, noting that this program which spans 3 months, focuses on seven workshops and 12 working sessions with the Hseven team.
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What Hseven Programmes Give To Startups
- “Re-start”, the incubation program aimed at entrepreneurs at the dawn of the effective start of their startup, gives access to 500,000 dirhams ($136k) of loans on honor, as well as 1.5 to 15 million of dirhams (MDH) ($400k to $4 million) of bank loans without guarantees and without personal guarantees, and relates to 15 workshops and up to 15 thousand euros of technological credits provided by Amazon, according to the founder of Hseven.
- The “Disrupt” program, which spans 6 months, is an acceleration program for startups already on the move in need of scaling up, offering funding ranging from 250,000 euros to 1.5 million euros for a minority stake between 5% and 7%, he added.
- Through these programs, Hseven aims to support at least 70 startups, in order to contribute to the recovery of the economy and offer concrete and innovative solutions that can be adopted on a very large scale, at the country and continental level.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer