OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program 2025/2026 for Innovative Ocean-minded Startups (Up to $125K in services and Potential funding)

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Applications are open for OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program. OceanHub Africa, Africa’s leading enabler of ocean-impact entrepreneurship, is excited to announce the launch of the sixth cohort of its twelve-month (12) acceleration program. This initiative aims to support up to twenty-four (24) of Africa’s most promising impact-driven for-profit startups dedicated to preserving and restoring the health of the ocean. With two (2) intakes in the year (March and July), the applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program Benefits

This program offer the following support:

Service Package
- Up to $75k worth of cloud service through our partner AWS Activate.
- Over $40k worth of mechanical engineering design software licences for prototyping and virtual testing, courtesy to our partner. 3DExperience Lab.
- Access to Dassault Systèmes, Amazon Web Services, Hubspot support, and Notion Premium.
- Legal advisory sessions with Sidley Austin, Bowmans, and Lex Mundi (multinational law firms) based on your targeted market, valued at up to $50k.
- Advisory sessions with: Mercator Ocean International, Blue Oceans Partners, Ocean14 Capital, WWF-SA, Dept. of Oceanography University of Cape Town, EuroSIMA, and more!
- Self-development coaching with the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business’ Centre for Coaching.
Mentorship & Support
- Participation in an in-person bootcamp.
- Tailored business skills and personal development 1-on-1 coaching.
- Sales, Product Development, Communication, and Business Development Support.
- Mentorship from our network of scientific, business, impact, and investment experts from international corporations, foundations, universities, and intergovernmental organisations.
Network
- Access to networking events and conferences, including partial funding to attend, host an exhibition stand and stage time at the Ocean Innovation Africa annual summit.
- Access to potential clients (market leads) for local and international expansion.
- The potential to attend Katapult Ocean’s Future Festival in Norway.
Fund-Raising Support
- Potential funding of up to 15k USD.
- Investor readiness support in preparing and conducting investor pitches, including training sessions with partner investors directly.
- Assistance in structuring deals, including reviews by transactional and commercial lawyers.
- Access to a diverse portfolio of impact investors and corporate venture capitalist funds.
- Access to a dedicated investment with the partnership with Katapult Ocean’s investment team.

Eligibility Criteria

The program is open to for-profit startups in Africa that are working towards positive ocean impact, whether the impact is direct or indirect. Startups must demonstrate a strong business model, a visionary team, and scalable low to high technology. Applicants must also have at least 1.5 full-time equivalents (FTEs) dedicated to the project.

Selection Criteria for OceanHub Africa Acceleration Program

Impact and Vision
- How much is environmental and/or social impact embedded into your culture and/or part of your long term goals.
- How impactful is your business with respect to ocean pollution, overexploitation, and/or tackling global warming and its effect on oceans.
Business Model
- Product-market fit and market potential.
- Innovative approach.
- Current traction and/or growth strategy.
Technology
- IP owned.
- Business built on reliable technology(-ies) including both software and hardware.
- Adaptability and scalability.
Team
- Team size.
- Team background.
- Relevance of distribution of responsibilities, priorities.
- Focus (limited participation in other programs in parallel)
- Ambition and passion.