African base tech startups have been urged to send in applications for the Norrsken Impact Accelerator in Stockholm, Sweden, which offer selected early-stage startups from across the world access to support, mentorship and US$125,000 in funding.
Norrsken Impact Accelerator was founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, who incidentally is one of the founders of Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna with the objective of helping entrepreneurs solve the world’s greatest challenges. Its ecosystem consists of Norrsken House, a co-working space for over 350 impact entrepreneurs in Stockholm, the Norrsken Founders Fund, and Norrsken VC.
It could be recalled that as part of the foundation’s efforts to expand into Africa, it launched operations in Kigali, Rwanda in 2019, which it said it planned to use as a base for investing across the East and Central African region, and last year it accepted 11 startups from Africa into the inaugural edition of the Norrsken Impact Accelerator.
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This year, African companies have the opportunity to apply for the 2022 edition of the accelerator, which is designed to find the world’s most promising impact startups and help them scale. The programme includes an eight-week growth sprint at Norrsken House in Stockholm and mentorship from a roster of over 50 entrepreneurs, investors and unicorn founders. All startups receive a US$125,000 upfront seed or pre-seed investment from the Norrsken Foundation.
“We constantly ask ourselves – is this company solving a real problem? We’re only interested in business models where profit and impact are truly inseparable. It should be the opposite of “if you buy one pair of shoes, we’ll give away a free pair to Africa”, said Funda Sezgi, Norrsken Impact Accelerator managing director and co-founder.
“We’re looking for startups that have the potential to drive lasting, generational positive change to the world, whilst simultaneously building successful, rapidly scalable businesses.”
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Since being accepted into the 2021 programme, the 20 participating companies have raised more than US$17 million in seed or pre-seed funding.
Interested applicants are advised to visit www.norrskenimpactaccelerator.com to apply. Applications are open until the end of February 2022.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry