There is only one week left to back a startup on the Unreasonable East Africa Marketplace, through which selected startups are attempting to crowdfund tuition fees for the accelerator programme.
Disrupt Africa reported last month the Unreasonable East Africa incubator picked 12 early-stage startups from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan to take part in its programme, with the ventures building solutions to the region’s biggest social and environmental problems.
The programme is in its second year and looks to provide startups with an “unreasonable advantage” by introducing them to a large network of mentors, investors and partners.
The cohort is made up of Aryodi Bee Farm, Bicycles Against Poverty, Duma Works, iNuka pap, Kajo-Keji Health Training Institute, Miti Health, Natural Extracts Industries, Ojay Greene, Skynotch Energy Africa, SPOUTS of Water,Totohealth and Yield Uganda.
Since the end of the month the startups have been fundraising on the incubator’s crowdfunding platform the Unreasonable Marketplace to raise the tuition they need to attend the programme.
There is one week left to back the companies, and though some are closing in on the US$3,000 target – SPOUTS of Water had at the time of writing raised US$2,850, Duma Works US$2,725, Miti Health US$2,497 and Bicycles Against Poverty US$1,565 – many have raised very little or nothing at all.
“Thank you for supporting our entrepreneurs on the Unreasonable Marketplace so far. With only seven days to go, our entrepreneurs need one HUGE final push. And they need it now,” Unreasonable East Africa said.
“While we still face many challenges in East Africa, these entrepreneurs are piloting and implementing models to tackle these challenges head on,” said Joachim Ewechu, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Unreasonable East Africa.
“Their businesses are creating a new economy which builds hope for a bright future in the face of all the obstacles that we may face. We are honoured and excited to work with them and urge you to support them to raise the tuition they need by donating to your favorite companies on the Unreasonable Marketplace. This is our opportunity to create jobs, combat poverty and improve access to basic services through the private sector.”
