Applications open for Women in Tech Zambia Accelerator Programme

The programme combines world-class training, strategic mentorship, and equity-free funding to help female entrepreneurs grow their startups and scale sustainable solutions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Challenges

• Health Technology: Innovating for Equitable Health Access
  • In Zambia, underserved communities face significant barriers to accessing quality healthcare. Despite advancements in HealthTech, such as telemedicine, AI-driven diagnostics, and mobile health platforms, these solutions have not been fully leveraged to improve healthcare access and outcomes for all.
  • The challenge is to innovate and scale HealthTech in a way that ensures equitable, inclusive, and accessible healthcare for underserved populations across the country.
• Education Technology: Empowering the Next Generation
  • In rural Zambia, girls and women face significant barriers to accessing quality education, including limited opportunities to develop digital literacy skills. While EdTech solutions have the potential to improve education access, there is a gap in scalable systems that can effectively reach underserved populations and address educational inequalities.
  • The challenge is to design inclusive and scalable EdTech solutions that improve access to quality education, bridge educational gaps, and enhance digital literacy for all individuals, particularly in rural areas.
• Financial Technology: Empowering Entrepreneurs in Zambia
  • In Zambia, entrepreneurs, especially those in underserved communities, face substantial barriers to accessing financial services, including limited access to credit, savings tools, investment options, and financial literacy resources. Despite the potential of financial technology (FinTech) solutions to address these gaps, there remains a lack of inclusive systems that cater to the unique needs of local entrepreneurs.
  • The challenge is to design and implement inclusive FinTech services that enhance financial literacy, improve access to credit, and provide tools for savings and investment, ultimately fostering business growth and economic empowerment for Zambian entrepreneurs.
• Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies: Empowering Entrepreneurs
  • Entrepreneurs in Zambia, particularly women, face significant challenges such as limited access to funding, market entry barriers, and operational inefficiencies. These issues are compounded by gender bias in the tech industry, which hinders the growth of businesses.
  • The challenge is to harness AI and emerging technologies to help entrepreneurs overcome these barriers, improve business efficiency, and foster inclusivity within the digital economy.
• Access Technology: Inclusive Innovations for Persons with Disabilities
  • Persons with disabilities in Zambia often face challenges in mobility, communication, and access to essential information, which limits their full participation in society. While AI and assistive technologies hold great potential, their integration into accessible and inclusive digital solutions remains limited.
  • The challenge is to harness AI and assistive technologies to create innovative solutions that enhance mobility, communication, and information access for persons with disabilities, ensuring inclusivity in tech design.

Benefits

• 3-Month acceleration
  • Structured training focused on business strategy, growth, and operations.
• Professional Mentorship
  • Expert guidance from seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, strategic partners, and industry specialists.
• Technical & Business Support
  • Access to legal, financial, accounting, and digital services.
• Milestone Development Plan
  • Create a personalized milestone development plan towards investment readiness, growth, and impact utilizing Abaca, VilCap’s online milestone tracking tool
• Financial Analysis
  • Access to 1:1 coaching with an investment analyst focused on building a financial model and financial narratives.
• Networking Opportunities
  • Meet investors, corporates, and potential strategic partners.
• Media Exposure
  • Increased visibility through media and public events.
• Equity-Free Grant
  • $10,000 awarded to 5 selected businesses to scale their solutions.
• Market Expansion Support
  • Six months of targeted post-programme support designed to help you scale operations and deepen your market reach.
• Alumni Community
  • Join an active network of women tech founders and BongoHive alumni for ongoing collaboration and support.

Eligibility Criteria

• Startups must meet the following criteria:
  • Legally registered for-profit business (less than 10 employees) must have been registered with PACRA for at least 3 months.
  • Headquartered and operational in Zambia.
  • Revenue-generating (under $100,000 annually)
  • Have raised less than $500,000 in equity.
  • Have a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and proven traction (users, partnerships, revenue, etc.).
  • At least one female founder with equal or majority ownership.
  • One full-time founder must be based in Zambia and must be able to participate in all programme activities from 23 June – 9 October 2025.
  • The founder should be 18–35 years old.
  • The business must be tech-based or tech-enabled, addressing one of the thematic challenge areas.

For more information, visit Women in Tech Zambia.