Deadline Date: February 16, 2026
The AfricaTech Award aims to showcase the abundance of talent and innovation across Africa while creating new opportunities for emerging startups operating on the continent.
The focus of the award is to recognize innovation in technology solutions, highlight impactful products addressing important global challenges with social, economic, environmental, or gender benefits, assess scalability and market potential, evaluate the quality and strength of startup teams, and support business models that demonstrate clear monetization, traction, and sustainable operations.
For four years, the AfricaTech Award has recognized and supported African startups that are working to transform the business landscape across the continent. The initiative highlights technology-driven ventures that demonstrate relevance and originality compared to existing alternatives, including the size of the problem addressed, the technology used, and the protection of innovation.
The award places strong emphasis on impact, particularly solutions that respond to significant global challenges while delivering measurable benefits to society and the economy. Startups are also assessed on their ability to scale, including market size, geographic ambition within Africa, and the range of clients they aim to serve.
Team strength is another key consideration, with attention given to the expertise, entrepreneurial experience, academic background, and overall capacity of the team to execute and grow the business. In addition, the business model is evaluated based on the startup’s ability to generate revenue, achieve product-market fit, and demonstrate commercial traction and growth.
Eligible startups must be headquartered in Africa and actively operate within the African market by offering products or solutions designed to address local needs. Applicants must also have demonstrated a certain level of maturity by raising more than USD 150,000 in funding.
For more information, visit Viva Technology.
