2022 Applications
Opens Soon!

ABOUT WAZO CHALLENGE EAST AFRICA

Wazo Challenge East Africa is aimed at young entrepreneurs in the 18 - 30 age group, who are residents of countries from the UN designated Eastern Africa region. We are looking for entrepreneurs who have an idea to solve a local business / social problem, by leveraging technology.

We are looking for enterprising youth (as individuals or teams) to use technology (Software / Hardware / Software+Hardware), and solve for one of the below:

Financial
Services

Healthcare
Services

Agriculture
Services

Energy / Utility

Educational
Services

TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CHALLENGE

Venture Bootcamp

10 high-potential founders will be selected for a 4-week venture building mentorship and leadership development bootcamp, that will be delivered by successful founders, industry leaders, domain experts and investors from Hindsight Ventures’s global network. The Venture Bootcamp will help establish / reiterate basic venture development processes, enable industry connections, international networks, peer community and more. During the course of the bootcamp, each selected startup will get access to $150,000 worth of technology credits from our partners, that will help the selected Founders to build fast, and at scale.

Week 1
Foundation

  • Product Market Fit: Review, Identifying Gaps and Refining the idea

  • Revisiting the Business Model

  • Understanding Mission, Vision and Goals

  • 1:1 Mentorship

Week 3
Go- to Market and Scale

  • Business Scalable Strategies

  • Customer Acquisition

  • Financial Modelling

  • 1:1 Mentorship

Week 2
Customer Development

  • Customer Journey Mapping, Customer Segmentation, Value Proposition

  • Value Proposition

  • Customer Profiling/Validation

  • 1:1 Mentorship

Week 4
Pitch Ready

  • Funding

  • Pitch coaching and mock pitches

  • Final Investor, Customer and Partner Pitches

  • 1:1 Mentorship

International Demo Day

The Venture Bootcamp will culminate with an international demo day, wherein the cohort will pitch to an audience comprising investors and corporates. Prior to the demo day, the cohort will be ably coached by pitch coaches, to ensure that each pitch is succinct and conveys a compelling story.

Cash Prizes

Money! Money! Money!
There’s a USD 10,000 grant money at stake, and the cohort will be pitching for the same. In addition, we sincerely hope that the international demo day will attract venture investors to take a serious look at the cohort, and many will get investor interest.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Founders of Eastern African origin, and in the age group of 18 - 30 years

If the company is incorporated within the immediate past 18-months

Minimum team size of 3 people

Uniqueness of the idea

Social and Community Impact

Innovation

Market Opportunity

Market Feasibility

MEET OUR JURY

Wazo Challenge East Africa will be judged by a jury of prominent regional stakeholders, who will be selecting the Top-10 Applications on the basis of the above criteria.

Abdi Mohammed
Managing Director/ CEO
Absa Bank Tanzania Limited
Miranda Naiman
Founder & Managing Partner
Empower
Samantha Niyonsaba
Lead - Future Lab
Innovation Village
Pritam Dutta
Global Director Fintech Ventures & Innovation
AB Inbev
Soumitra Deshpande
Manager - Startup Partnerships and Growth
Freshworks
Faith Pella
Executive Board Member
Tanzania Startup Association
Ian Fernandes
MD, Regional Head - Strategic Initiatives
Projects and Governance - Africa and Middle East
Standard Chartered Bank
Martin Kiilu
International Resource Specialist
GrowthAfrica
Rushika Pattni
Chief Strategy Officer
Selcom Tanzania

TIMELINES

Build for the Future, today.

Ecosystem Partners

Technology PARTNERS

Testimonials

Our Cohort