Deadline: March 14, 2026

Applications are open for the AFRISE Challenge 2026. The AFRISE Challenge provides an opportunity for high potential African youth and student entrepreneurs to rise up in their entrepreneurial journey, and contribute to local and regional economic development by becoming job creators.

Concordia University and Hindsight Ventures have partnered for this program, with a central theme focusing on how youth entrepreneurs can help “African” economies to “Rise”. AFRISE seeks to identify young innovators and entrepreneurs who have an idea to solve a scalable mass challenge in areas related to:

  • Financial Services
  • Healthcare
  • Agriculture
  • Energy / Utility
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Telecommunications
  • Arts & Creativity

Program Takeaways

  • Accelerator Program: 30 high-potential founders will be selected for a mentorship and leadership development accelerator, that will be delivered by successful founders, industry leaders, domain experts and investors; alongside leaders from Concordia University, Hindsight Ventures and AfriLabs global network.
  • International Demo Day: The Accelerator Program will culminate with an International Demo Day, wherein the Top-15 Entrepreneurs present at a Virtual Demo Day to a group of early stage venture investors and Entrepreneurship Support Organizations for accessing funding support (grant + equity based funding)
  • Technology Credits and other Support: Each startup gets in excess of $600,000 in technology credits from partners such as AWS, Zoho, IBM, Microsoft, Canva, DigitalOcean, FreshWorks and more.
  • Market Exposure Tour to Concordia University, Montreal, QC: 5 Youth Entrepreneurs get selected for a 1-Week International Market Exposure.
See also  Barbizon College Tuition Scholarship Program 2026

Eligibility

  • Applicant should be 18 – 35 year old African youth.
  • They are looking for applications from Nigeria, Uganda, Morocco, Kenya and Senegal.

Application

While the bootcamp will be delivered in English, the team will support in translating certain material in French to accommodate Francophone candidates.

Click here to apply

For more information, visit AFRISE Challenge.

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