The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Nike Foundation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are excited to announce the launch of SPRING, a pioneering new business accelerator. The programme will deliver life-changing resources and financial opportunities to adolescent girls, by accelerating businesses with products and services to meet their needs.
SPRING is targeting early to mid-stage business ventures in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda to apply for the accelerator. Through a competitive process, up to 18 successful entrepreneurs will be selected as the first cohort to benefit from the accelerator.
Successful businesses will receive access to world-class mentors and leading experts in business creation, design, marketing and legal support. Grant funding of up to USD $80,000 will also be available to scale their ventures and improve the lives of girls. In the next five years, SPRING aims to reach 200,000 girls in eight countries.
More specifically, for a Business to be selected, it should provide the products and services that oriented toward helping adolescent girls do one or more of the following: Generate income, Save time or labour, giving girls more time to study or secure employment, Save and invest their earnings and assets, Feel safe and secure and and provide the products and services
Anneke Evers, Country Manager, SPRING Rwanda said, “The SPRING accelerator is not just exciting and ambitious, it’s unique. We’re offering successful applicants access to a network of global innovation experts and a state of the art knowledge bank where they can experiment, test and develop their prototypes to ensure they’re successful and sustainable both within the SPRING project and beyond.”
Applications are now being accepted for businesses with operations in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Up to 18 businesses will be chosen for the first cohort. The deadline to apply is March 16th, 2015. Visit springaccelerator.org for more information.
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