With the pandemic all of the Fledge accelerator programs moved online. To take advance of that format, The Land Accelerator Africa invited nearly 100 companies to participate this year, rather than just 12-15 as in years past.
Specifically, we invited 100 companies out of the 1,387 who applied to participate in a 12 week virtual accelerator, each receiving a $5,000 non-dilutive grant if only they attend and turn into the assigned homework. We then invite 10-15 of those companies to a second stage with more one-on-one mentoring and access to more capital.
76 companies made it through stage one and this week we pick the finalists.
As always, it’ll be a tough decision. There are more than 15 promising companies to choose from, but time and money limit how many we can work with. For those that miss out, they’ll be more Fledge programs in 2022 and as Fledge is part of the screening process, we now these companies better than a typical applicant.
If only more grantors and investors took note of this corner of entrepreneurship. These companies are typically overlooked as they work in food and forestry, with little technology, but nonetheless with giant opportunities both financially and in terms of impact.
Many of these companies are baby elephants, waiting for their chance to grow. Elephants, as in real vs. unicorns, which are not.
If you’d like to see the list of finalists, ideally to join us in follow-on investments, contact us.
