Applications are now open for the 2025 SAIS Investment Readiness Programme. The SAIS Investment Readiness Programme (IRP) offers a year-long, tailor-made company development programme for African tech start-ups in agriculture, livestock, food, and climate.
About The GIZ-SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2025
SAIS are a company development and accelerator programme for African tech start-ups in the agriculture, food, and livestock sectors. Start-ups and their solutions are a central pathway to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
SAIS offer annual Investment Readiness Programmes (IRPs) in English, French, and for the livestock sector. Our goal is to put you in a position to raise capital for growth. To do so, we provide you with access to a growing network of experts, mentors as well as investors and business partners.
They have worked with close to 65 start-ups from more than 21 countries from Africa. About 65% of the start-ups we supported were able to raise follow-on funding of more than 40m USD in total after joining our programme.
SAIS stands for “Scaling digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups” and is a project implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation/Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bayer Cares Foundation.
Benefits of The GIZ-SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2025
Selected start-ups receive services worth up to 35,000 EUR including:
- Mentorship and coaching with local and international experts tailored to your specific needs to develop and implement strategies for rapid growth.
- Additional services & technical resources to optimise certain key areas of your business, e.g. legal advice, online marketing, digital product optimization, design, and coding.
- Individual trainings, e.g. pitch training, growth strategy, data analytics & management, term sheet, valuation, market analysis, marketing & sales.
- Investment and partnership facilitation, e.g. guidance on fundraising strategy, preparation of fundraising rounds, support for due-diligence processes, introduction to investors & funds.
- Networking and showcasing opportunities at two in-person community events scheduled back-to-back with the Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi, and one additional sector conference (travel costs for one representative from each start-up are covered by the programme).
- Community exchanges and peer-learning, e.g. virtual group trainings and workshops, company visits, deal rooms, topical exchanges and inputs from external speakers and guests.
The GIZ-SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2025 Requirments
To be eligible for the programme, your company must meet the following minimum requirements:
- Be registered in Africa
- Be for-profit
- Have a minimum viable product
- Have a digital or tech-enabled solution for the agriculture, food or livestock value chain
- Have a management team of at least two people
- Have evidence of traction (paying customers, first revenue)
- Contribute to climate change adaptation, income generation and/or food & nutrition security
Application Date and Process
- Click on the link to the application website to apply.
Application Deadline
02 September, 2024
Scholarship Application Portal
View details of
The GIZ-SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2025
Apply for The GIZ-SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2025
