Deadline: February 22, 2022.

FAST is an initiative of Flapmax in partnership with Microsoft. The program combines business development, technology integration, funding and community building opportunities to enable African startups to scale more rapidly and sustainably.

While they may be sector-agnostic, we have specific interest in startups innovating in key industries where AI can be greatly leveraged for societal good at large scales.

1. HEALTH: Deploy technology for equitable healthcare. Telemedicine, genomic sequencing, robotic surgery, etc.
2. FINTECH: Include every individual–big or small–in the financial space. Financial planning, payments, insurance, etc
3. SUSTAINABILITY: Build a sustainable environment that propels socioeconomic growth. Waste, water, biodiversity, etc.
4. EDUCATION: Ignite the knowledge in every learner and empower the global workforce. Adaptive learning, training, etc.
5. AGRICULTURE: Bring food to table with no stress, inclusive of underserved communities. Green agriculture, smart faming, etc.

ELIGIBILITY

1. Startups must be based in Africa
2. Be ready to scale or expand within the continent
3. Have established product-market fit and generating revenue  
4. B2B startups are prioritized 
5. Healthtech, Fintech, Edutech and Industrials/Agritech startups are specifically of interest. Sustainability and Deeptech are welcomed 
6. Commitment: Participants must be committed for the entire duration of the program, 7th of March, 2022 – 27th of May, 2022.

BENEFITS

Startups benefit from a broad range of services and perks for achieving high growth and scale.

1. ACCESS AND CO-INNOVATION WITH MICROSOFT ENGINEERING AND PRODUCT TEAM: Startups within the program will have access to Microsoft engineering team to co-innovate, this can range from product integrations to new offerings.
2. ACCESS AND CO-INNOVATION WITH FLAPMAX ENGINEERING AND PRODUCT TEAM: Startups within the program will have access to Flapmax engineering team to co-innovate, this can include product integrations with Measure, Coral Imaging, and Fast Portal
3. AZURE CLOUD CREDIT, GITHUB AND DEVELOPER TOOLS: Up to $250,000 in cloud credits, including access to Founders Hub and virtual reality (VR) hardware.
4. SME VALUE PROPOSITION AND MARKETPLACE: They have a high preference for startups with SME solution. Our vision is to impact millions of SME’S across the continent as such we will be positioning solutions targeted to solving the SME challenge in the continent.
5. ENTERPRISE AND GOVERNMENT PROACTIVE CO-SELL: Joint Co-Sell engagement with Microsoft sales team in the enterprise and public sector as well as with Flapmax product team.
6. ACCESS TO TALENT THROUGH FLAPMAX AI ACADEMY: The AI Academy program includes xHAIL Apprenticeship program, Resident Research Engineers and International Internships
7. MICROSOFT PARTNER ECOSYSTEM: Partner Network provides access to exclusive resources, programs, tools and connections across the continent to foster business growth.
8. ACCESS TO MICROSOFT AFRICA VC CIRCLE: Their  network of VCs help drive growth. Startups will have access to Microsoft VC circle to raise funds and scale their business.
9. CROSS MARKET EXPANSION: Startups seeking to expand to the rest of Africa will benefit from cross market expansion activities which introduces their product/services to new markets within the continent.

OFFICIAL LINK