Denis Opudo
The Innovate Ventures is a Somali based tech accelerator. The accelerator aims at supporting the young entrepreneurs in both the Somaliland and Somali. Furthermore, it aims at coming up with the best startup ecosystem in Somali. The Innovate Ventures accelerator receives backing from VC4A, Oxfam, and Telesom startups. The accelerator has been running a program at the Hargeisa for the two consecutive years. Plans to put up the third one in 2018 are ongoing.
The 2018 program will see the coming in of 12 new startups to join the cohort. The program that runs for twelve weeks includes mentorship and training by various experts and entrepreneurs. It also focuses on educating participants on how to develop a commercially scalable and viable tech-enabled venture. The application for the program’s third cycle is now opened.
The 2018 program will reach its climax on the Demo Day. The day will see four startups showcasing the biggest potential taking home seed investment worth $30,000 each. Running the program for a period of three years has been a learning curve for the Innovate Venture. As the years go by the startup tries to make the accelerator program better than the previous year. The startup works on offering the entrepreneurs the right tools that they need. Therefore helping them to overcome various challenges they might face in Somali. According to the Innovate Ventures co-founder Warda Dirir, this has made Innovate Accelerator one of the best programs in the region if not the most unique.
Those wishing to apply must be below 35 years of age. Furthermore, they must be residents of Somaliland or Somalia. A total of 20 applicants will get an invitation to take part in a one-week boot camp. After which 12 entrepreneurs from the 20 will be shortlisted to join the accelerator. Applications are ongoing and it will close on June 15th, 2018.
