2023 RevUp Women enterprise development intervention for early-stage women-led African startups and SMEs

Brief Description

RevUp Women is an enterprise development intervention for early-stage women-led African startups and SMEs. It is designed to accelerate female-led businesses into profitable & sustainable ventures that can stimulate the creation of jobs on the continent.

At the end of the pilot stage, 500 women business owners would have received capacity-building training and mentoring while 10 women business owners will be funded with 10,000 dollars grant each through the Catalytic Africa matching fund to grow their businesses. The initiative is funded by The Visa Foundation and aligns with AfriLabs’ inclusion strategy.

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2023 RevUp Women enterprise development intervention for early-stage women-led African startups and SMEs

Project’s Activities

Leveraging AfriLabs hubs network in 52 African countries to undertake the following:

Mentorship
Enterprise Development
Training
Funding through
Catalytic Africa
Peer-To-Peer Learning
Workshops

AfriLabs is calling on hubs within the AfriLabs network to apply to implement this cohort of the initiative. In this cohort, 10 implementing hubs, two(2) in each of the pilot countries will be selected via a competitive application and screening process targeting hubs that have incubated at least 1 complete cohort of women-led businesses and have operated for at least 6 months, following AfriLabs network membership criteria.

Roles of Implementing Hubs in the Initiative

Select 50 participating women-led businesses
Conduct a detailed needs assessment on the select businesses
Train and mentor the women
Create a peer-to-peer support network within the businesses
Work with the other selected hub in the country to create a country women mentoring network.

Eligibility Criteria

The applications are open to innovation hubs within the AfriLabs network that provide facilities to nurture women-led businesses and entrepreneurs in Africa. Innovation hubs must meet the following criteria before applying;

Be located in any of these cities
- Nigeria – Lagos, Abuja
- South Africa – Johannesburg, Pretoria
- Cameroon – Douala, Yaounde
- Kenya – Nairobi, Kisumu
- Democratic Republic of Congo- Kinshasa, Lubumbashi

Have a physical space
Maintain a focus on at least two or more of the following: entrepreneurship, innovation or technology
Must have verifiable evidence of building women-led startups and MSMEs from incubation to maturity

Benefits and Rewards

5 Women mentoring networks (1 per country) that will provide strong mentorship and peer-to-peer support amongst female entrepreneurs in Africa are built.
$100,000 To 10 women-led enterprises in Africa through Catalytic Africa.
600 Jobs will be created in the countries where the initiative is implemented.
500 Women-led enterprises across 5 African countries are enabled via training, mentoring, and capacity-building sessions.