African Innovators Can Now Apply for the Seventh Installation of Google’s Startup Accelerator

Applications for Google’s three-month virtual accelerator programme are now open to technology start-ups located in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Botswana and Cameroon among other countries. 

Successful early-growth stage start-up applicants (from seed to Series A) will gain access to equity-free support alongside the best of Google’s networks, advanced technology, experts and mentors through Google for Start-ups Accelerator Africa’s (GFSAA) week-long virtual boot camps every month from March to May 2022. 

This news comes five months after Google renewed its commitment to growing Africa’s start-up ecosystem through $6 million in grants and funding for the Black Founders Fund (BFF) Africa programme and to the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Andy Volk who leads Google’s developer and start-up ecosystem efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa says they are honoured to have yet another opportunity to connect with African innovators and empower them through the seventh class of GFSAA. 

“We know that, as with previous classes, we are on the cusp of uncovering more outstanding technology-led solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing challenges, developed by Africans themselves.” 

Launched in 2017, the Google for Start-ups Accelerator Africa programme is designed to help start-ups scale their solutions across the continent. 

To date, 82 start-ups from 17 African countries have participated and successfully raised more than US$117 million in funding and created more than 2,800 jobs on the continent.