AFRISE Challenge 2026 For Startup Accelerator (Up To $600,000 in Technology Credits)

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Applications are open for AFRISE Challenge 2026. The AFRISE Challenge provides an opportunity for high potential African youth and student entrepreneurs to rise up in their entrepreneurial journey, and contribute to local and regional economic development by becoming job creators.

Concordia University and Hindsight Ventures have partnered for this program, with a central theme focusing on how youth entrepreneurs can help “African” economies to “Rise”.

AFRISE Challenge Focus Areas

We are looking for enterprising youth (as individuals or teams) who are solving for, but not limited to below:

Financial Services
Healthcare
Agriculture
Energy / Utility
Education
Environment
Telecommunications
Arts & Creativity

Program Benefits

Accelerator Program
- 30 high-potential founders will be selected for a mentorship and leadership development accelerator, that will be delivered by successful founders, industry leaders, domain experts and investors; alongside leaders from Concordia University and Hindsight Ventures network.
International Demo Day
- The Accelerator Program will culminate with an International Demo Day, wherein the Top-15 Entrepreneurs present at a Virtual Demo Day to a group of early stage venture investors and Entrepreneurship Support Organizations for accessing funding support (grant + equity based funding)
Technology Credits and other Support
- Each startup gets in excess of $600,000 in technology credits from partners such as AWS, Zoho, IBM, Microsoft, Canva, DigitalOcean, FreshWorks and more.

Eligibility Criteria for AFRISE Challenge

Applicants must be between 18 and 35 years old and must be founders or team members of a startup developing a scalable solution.
Applicants must also reside in one of the eligible African countries, including Nigeria, Uganda, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.