Press Statement - London, 24th October 2024
The new cohort of the Afropreneurs Fellowship is launched today with 13 Black-led technology startups based in Europe or expanding their business to the continent. The selected startups come from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Brazil, United States and Cape Verde, with founders from multiple origins, such as Angola, Nigeria, Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Principe, and Brazil.
For this European cohort, Portuguese language fluency was a mandatory requirement to enable the “lusophone business and innovation triangle” that Djassi Africa is enabling between Brazil, Lusophone Africa (PALOP) and Europe. These thirteen founders are joining a community with 47 Djassi Fellows from previous cohorts, building impactful and scalable businesses across multiple industries and solving the world's greatest challenges.
Djassi Africa launched the Afropreneurs Fellowship last year with the aim of increasing the presence, visibility, and success rate of Black Founders in global innovation and entrepreneurship stages, including leading events and renowned acceleration programmes. It’s imperative to increase the representation of all underrepresented and underserved groups across these global innovation stages, as the lack of diversity and equity is costing entrepreneurship ecosystems returns, talent, and innovation. This agenda is about levelling the playing field for Black Founders across the globe.
The cohort covers 9 industries, including Fintech, Healthtech, Energy & Cleantech, Sports, E-commerce & Retail, Events Management & Ticketing, HR & Recruitment, AI & Machine Learning, and Travel & Hospitality, with multiple business and technology synergies already identified and to be explored as part of the Fellowship Program.
The 10-week hybrid Fellowship Program runs across three phases from October to December and offers the opportunity to actively participate in Web Summit in Lisbon (11-14 November 2024), where they will get the chance to exhibit, pitch on stage, connect with investors and partners, as well as join panel discussions as speakers. The program also includes strategic growth acceleration and advisory from Djassi Africa, venture buiding and investment readiness support, and access to multiple opportunities across Djassi Africa’s global ecosystem. At the end of the programme, this group of Fellows will sign the Afropreneurs Pact to multiply value and impact across the Afropreneurs community.
About Djassi Africa
Djassi Africa is a global organisation based in the United Kingdom, with the mission of advancing and backing African and Afro-diasporan innovators building tech-enabled startups to solve the world’s greatest challenges.
We are Venture Builders – by accelerating and maturing high-potential early-stage startups into investable and market-ready businesses.
We are Ecosystem Builders – by following a data-driven approach to embed diversity, equity, and sustainability in the DNA of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.
We are Angel Investors – by following a holistic approach to funding and typically being one of the first investors in early-stage startups that require more than financial capital to grow and scale.
For more information contact Djassi Africa here.
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