Qualcomm® Make in Africa Startup Mentorship Program 2026 ($5,000 stipend + Equity-Free Mentorship)

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Applications are open for Qualcomm® Make in Africa Startup Mentorship Program 2026. As the first initiative of its kind in Africa, this equity-free mentorship program will identify promising early-stage startups keen on applying advanced connectivity and processing technologies to innovative end-to-end systems solutions, including hardware, and provide these companies with business coaching, access to engineering consultation for product development, and guidance on protecting intellectual property.

The Make in Africa Startup Mentorship Program — part of Qualcomm’s Africa Innovation Platform — identifies promising early-stage startups working on solutions involving technologies such as AI, IoT, 5G, Extended Reality (XR), and advanced compute. Participants receive structured business and technical mentorship, expert guidance on intellectual property (IP), and access to industry masterclasses to accelerate growth and product readiness

Qualcomm® Make in Africa Startup Mentorship Program Benefits

Startup cohort: Up to 10 startups will be selected for the 2026 incubation program. QMIA 2026 Rules
Mentorship: 1:1 mentorship with Qualcomm subject matter experts
Platforms: Arduino Uno Q based usecase proposals welcome
Masterclasses: Expert-led technology training in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) including AI-Hub, Internet of Things (IoT), Extended Reality (XR), Compute (AI-PC), 5G, Intellectual Property Law, and more. Additional access to technology, business, and IP training is available at Qualcomm Academy
Stipends: One startup will be awarded a Social Impact Fund grant from Qualcomm® Wireless Reach^TM. All other participating startups will be eligible for a USD $5,000 stipend upon successful completion of program requirements
Patent filing incentives:
- Reimbursement of up to USD $5,000 for one full utility patent application filed in the startup’s country, at the USPTO, or via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- Eligibility for a patent filing consultation hours from Adams & Adams, Africa’s leading IP law firm. Learn more
- Free access to online IP education, including filing procedures for several African countries, at L2Pro Africa
Visibility and Industry connections:Participation in a virtual finale event in December 2026, including the announcement of the Social Impact Fund award winner. This event will showcase the startups and help accelerate their business success.

Eligibility Criteria

This programme is open to startups that meet the following criteria:

Registered companies operating in Africa
Early-stage ventures (pre-seed to seed) with a minimum viable product (MVP) or prototype
Solutions leveraging advanced technologies such as AI, connectivity, IoT, or embedded systems
Teams committed to participating throughout the full mentorship cycle
Participation is entirely equity-free — Qualcomm does not take ownership in exchange for support.