Google for Startups Funds | $4 million Funds for Black-owned Startups

The Google for Startups Funds for Early-stage African Startups is currently accepting applications for $4 million Startups funding.

At a Glance:

African founders will get the funding for black-owned businesses, specifically startups.

The funding is part of Google’s attempt to create a pedestal for Black Startup founders, closing the gap between local businesses and their counterparts outside Africa.

Applications are ongoing, with a tranche ($100K) earmarked as equity-free cash and $2000 paid out in Google Cloud Credits. Other funds are quantified payments, allowing the winners to access cross-platform opportunities.

Learn more about the project in this post.

Table of Contents

Google for Startups Funds Eligibility Criteria

The Google for Startups Funds specifies different criteria for startups, founding team makeup, technical disclosures, eligible countries, and so on.

Meanwhile, startups in the following countries can apply for the $4 million funding:

Rwanda,

Botswana,

Nigeria,

Côte D’Ivoire,

Ethiopia,

Ghana,

Mozambique,

South Africa,

Tanzania,

Uganda,

Cameroun,

Kenya, and

Zimbabwe

Startups

A good part of the business must build for Africa

Although branch locations may be outside Africa, the headquarters must be within the continent.

Moreover, the startup must have sustainable growth stats, with metrics supporting growth in reasonable periods.

Team Makeup

Diversity must be priority, with at least C-level position occupied by a Black Founder.

Team must be seen to directly engage African communities positively

Technical Requirement _

Startups are tech-driven ecosystems buoyed by tech instead of consultancies. As such, credits are weighted on the most performing technological startup outputs at the period.

Moreover, the startup tech must be compatible with Google products, leveraging Google product scalability for growth.

What’s in it for the African startups? See the following section.

Cash Benefits and Platform Leverage

The Google for Startups Funds offers the following benefits to the participating African startups:

Capital

Startups can get $100K in equity-free cash, although some entrants may get half the amount of funding, depending on deference to current capital, startup stage, and product disclosure.

Inclusivity

Essentially, every eligible startup can key into the Black Founders Fund as part of a Global Community.

Impliedly, every participant has access to a broad range of founder hubs from other continents, joining the rest of global startups to scale their businesses.

Here is a clip from the official website describing the full package for black founders.

This non-dilutive $4M fund is allocated across a pipeline of 60 investable startups in Africa. Applications for the latest $4M Black Founders Fund in Africa are now open until May 31st (23:59 GMT)

Apply for The Google for Startups Funds here _ campus.co

Google for Startups Funds | $4 million Funds for Black-owned Startups