Africa-centred VC and advisory firm Visions2Ventures has partnered Impact Amplifier and Entrepreneur Traction to launch the Enterprise Elevator accelerator programme, which will focus on high impact healthtech startups.
Visions2Ventures, Impact Amplifier and Entrepreneur Traction will launch Enterprise Elevator today at an event at the ongoing SA Innovation Summit, with the first programme likely to take place in October this year.
Enterprise Elevator will focus on high impact tech startups providing solutions to Africa’s most pressing issues, assisting startups in becoming investment-ready, gaining access to capital and markets, and developing their business.
The nine-module, four-month programme is virtual, though it will feature regular workshops in Cape Town. Enterprise Elevator will support up to 10 businesses in preparing fundable documentation, with the programme content focusing on closing key gaps in the business, with the objective of putting a bankable deal on the table for investors.
After the programme, the team will identify and solicit suitable investment partners for the startups from its network of global investors, while supporting the businesses in scaling their operations and gaining market access.
“Simply put, it’s all about the entrepreneur. Enterprise Elevator is about enabling entrepreneurs to impact society through technology; and technology is a key role-player in fostering innovation and driving economic growth not only locally, but globally as well,” said Entrepreneur Traction’s Dean Cannell.
Vasileos Sofiadellis, partner in the Enterprise Elevator programme and a director of Visions2Ventures, told Disrupt Africa the programme will have an option to fund the startups at an agreed valuation.
“Our interests are aligned to those of the entrepreneur. We benefit from funding raised and from market access that we provide to our startups,” he said.
Sofiadellis said Enterprise Elevator was interested in running programmes with a social impact, and had noted during discussions with strategic partners that health was a key focus area.
“We have also been working closely with several exciting startups that are in the health space and we have therefore decided to place some of our focus on the m-health and e-health sectors,” he said.
“We would consider expanding our programme but this is a long-term view. Our current focus is on ensuring that we identify the best startups with which we want to work with. We will then focus on helping them achieve their objectives and help accelerate their investment readiness and access to markets.”
Enterprise Elevator is the second e-health accelerator to launch in Africa in the space of a month, with Disrupt Africa reporting recently African entrepreneurship initiative AMPION and healthcare firm Merck had partnered to launch a healthcare accelerator in Nairobi, Kenya, aimed at fostering the growth of high potential, early-stage e-health startups.
The accelerator will accept applications from e-health startups from September 1, and will provide selected startups with customised support from Merck Headquarters’ Innovation Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, as well as mentorship and the potential to secure pilots and synergies with key global players.
