MEST Africa has officially announced the opening of applications for the 2022 MEST Africa Challenge.
Pre-seed to seed stage technology startups in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa are invited to apply to participate in the regional competitions to be held in these countries in October this year.
Two finalists will be selected from each country to participate in the final Demo Day Pitch event to be held in Accra, Ghana for the ultimate prize of $50,000 in equity.
Entries will be accepted till 30th August 2022 through the competition’s online portal.
Speaking on the 2022 edition of the competition, MEST Africa’s Director of Portfolio, Melissa Nsiah said, “We are excited to bring back this competition to give more African Startups a platform to showcase and build on their unique value in an era where African startups and innovations are taking center stage and gaining global recognition and investments. We look forward to an invigorating season that will increase the drive towards building better business in Africa.”
Run by pan-African training program, seed fund, incubator and hub, MEST Africa, the MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) is Africa’s go-to pitch competition for technology startups looking to get to the next level of their growth journey.
The challenge provides a stage for technology start-ups to raise funding, build industry networks and gain international visibility that would serve them well in growing and expanding their businesses.
The competition has received thousands of applications from around the continent since its inception. It has spotlighted and impacted the growth of winning startups such as Tanzania’s Kilimo Fresh, Ghana’s OZE, South Africa’s Snode Technologies, Kenya’s Waya Waya, and Nigeria’s Accounteer.
Eligibility Criteria for MAC 2022
Participants eligible for the challenge should be a tech enabled company and must have been in operation for 2 years, and currently generating revenue.
Other criteria for eligibility include; the company being at it’s pre-seed or seed-stage (should have raised $100k total or less cumulatively since inception)
Key benefits of the program
Benefits from participating at the event include; Funding of up to $50,000, perk prizes from MEST Strategic Partners, mentorship from experts, professional coaching and an opportunity to join the global mest community
About MEST Africa
MEST is a pan-African software and entrepreneurship training program, seed fund, and incubator helping to launch technology startups across the continent. Founded in Ghana in 2008 by serial entrepreneur Jorn Lyseggen, MEST is a 12-month program that provides critical skills training in software development, business, and communications to Africa’s burgeoning tech talent. MEST provides seed funding for the best ideas coming out of the program and continues to support the growth and development of its portfolio companies.
To date, MEST has trained 1000s of entrepreneurs from across the continent and invested in over 80 startups across industries from Agritech, Fintech, SaaS, eCommerce, Digital Media, and Healthcare amongst others. MEST is fully funded by the Meltwater Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Norwegian company Meltwater; a global leader in social and media intelligence headquartered in San Francisco.
