4 out of 10 Teams to Win USD$10,000 Each in Seed Funding at the Up Accelerate Program

Nathan Ernest Olupot May 25, 2017

1 minute read

Tech and incubation hub Outbox and UNFPA will on Tuesday 30th, May 2017 award four winning teams out of ten teams a mentorship program, seed funding of up-to USD$10000 (Roughly 36 million UGX) per team, business training, and technical guidance at the Up Accelerate Program that will be held at Outbox Hub.

The finalist teams will have five (5) minutes each to pitch their solutions to an independent panel of judges and will receive feedback from both the judges and audience.

The Up Accelerate program launched in November 2016 and runs until September 2017 is a one-year initiative implemented by Outbox Hub in partnership with UNFPA and funding from UKAID that seeks to support young entrepreneurs that are aged between 18 – 30 years that are tackling challenges in sexual and reproductive health in Uganda.

The Up Accelerate initiative has been developed with support from the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, aligns with national priorities, and contributes to Vision 2040.

The First Call for Applications
62 entries were submitted and only 22 were selected by Outbox for a public voting and evaluation by an expert panel of judges. The ten teams that were selected as the finalists presented their solutions on a Pitch Day event, that took place earlier this year on Tuesday 17th January, 2017 at Outbox. The final four teams emerged winners and received funding, mentorship and other gives a ways.

Winners pose for a group photo with the judges and other officials. — The first group of winners pose for a group photo with the judges and other officials.

Till to date, the four teams that won; “Teheca, Drug Dash, Snap HMIS and IDrain” have been undergoing an acceleration program from February to April 2017 and are expected to present their progress and solutions at a demo day event taking place on 30th May 2017 the same day as the Pitch Day event for the second call of finalists.

The teams on demo day will be judged by a panel of judges to determine which team meets the criteria of an investment ready company.

The Second Call for Applications
This time around 51 entries were submitted and only 25 of these were short-listed for public voting and evaluation by an independent panel of judges where now 10 teams have now been selected as finalists for an opportunity to join next accelerator cycle.

The demo and pitch day event is focused on showcasing the teams that have been undergoing acceleration in our current cohort, and to select the next four teams to participate in the program.[related-posts]

Editor’s Note: The organizers calls whoever is interested to attend the Pitch Day event which is scheduled on Tuesday 30th, May 2017 at Outbox Hub from 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m (East African Time).