Deadline: September 24, 2023.

The Digital Green Innovation Acceleration Programme (DGIx) is a programme by the WFP Innovation Accelerator and the Smart Development Fund (#SDF), and powered by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU). DGIx is in search of high-impact digital ventures and projects solving some of the most pressing environmental challenges in selected countries

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Please take the following factors into consideration before submitting your application to for the programme: 

• Your organization must have a presence (e.g., in the form of a country office or other permanent presence, subsidiary, long-term operations, etc.) and be locally rooted in the country of implementation.  
• Your organization must be an established legal entity (for-profit, not-for-profit, social enterprise) for at least 2 years.
• Your innovation must be at least at the validated prototype stage, ideally with proof of traction, and a verified potential commercial value and impact.
• Your innovation should clearly address one or more of the priority innovation areas. 
• Your innovation should have a clear pathway to scale (capacity to be adapted, expanded, replicated or scaled) along with a well defined implementation plan ready to be executed during the 12-month accelerator period using the available funding. 
• Applications from consortiums and cooperations with local NGOs are highly encouraged. 
• Solutions using open formats and approaches (Open Data, Open Hardware, Free and Open-Source Software, collaborative mapping and crowd-sensing) are encouraged.  
• At least one of the team members must be fluent in English.
• They prioritize ventures that focus on promoting gender equality and empowering women, either through their beneficiaries, job creation, or by having a high representation of women in leadership positions.
• They also encourage applications from youth-led ventures.

COUNTRIES OF INTEREST

Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and Togo.

BENEFITS

1. Hands-on support & access to network: The selected ventures and solutions will be invited to participate in a fully virtual 4-day WFP Innovation Bootcamp in early December 2023, and will be invited to attend an in-person pitch event in Kigali, Rwanda, on 30-31st January 2024.
2. Funding, coaching & mentorship: Selected ventures will be invited to apply to the WFP Sprint Programme – a six-month acceleration program with access to up to US$ 230,000 in equity-free funding, coaching, and mentorship support from a global network of relevant partners in the public health space. 
3. Scaling: Mature solutions that have proven their concept, scale, and value for social impact may qualify for further funding and support. 

OFFICIAL LINK