The Women in Tech Zambia Programme is proudly funded by Standard Chartered Bank Zambia

The programme is implemented by BongoHive. BongoHive is Zambia’s first technology and innovation hub. Established in May 2011 and based in Lusaka, the co-founders, all enthusiastic programmers, sought to address the gaps they experienced working within the local technology industry leading to a lack of coordination, skills exposure and productivity. BongoHive has evolved to assist scalable startups of any background by enhancing skills, accelerating growth, strengthening networks, increasing collaboration, providing a forum for ideas exchange and reducing the barriers to entrepreneurship. 

• The incubation period is 12 weeks for the 10 successful applicants
• This will be followed by an acceleration phase providing 5 months of ongoing support to the Top 5 winners of the incubation period

• The business owner must be a Zambian female founder or co-founder over 18 years of age and with an equal or majority stake;
• The business must be based and operating in Zambia;
• The business must already be using digital technology, or have a clear need to incorporate digital  technology to enable their business to grow 
• The business owner must be of Zambian nationality;
• The business must have been registered with PACRA for at least 3 months;
• The business owner may be seeking support for customer, product, and/or business model development;
• Key persons of the business (preferably 2 founders) must be available to undertake the 3-month incubation programme from March to May 2022; 
• The top 5 winners of the incubation programme must be able to attend a 5-month acceleration programme from June to November 2023.

The application deadline is January 16th 2023

1. Business Incubation – Three (3) months of learning experience in business management and operations;
2. Personalised Mentorship – Personalised mentorship for all participants and their business needs;
3. Access to legal, accounting, financial planning and tech support;
4. Access to networking opportunities with fellow successful applicants and industry experts;
5. Funding Opportunities – $10,000 equity-free grant seed funding for the top five (5) finalists from the incubation programme to assist with the implementation of technology in their businesses;
6. Five (5) months ongoing support from Standard Chartered, BongoHive and a network of coaches and mentors to assist with go-to-market strategies and scaling-up for the top five (5) finalists;
7. An opportunity to join BongoHive’s supportive Alumni Network.

The programme begins on 6 March 2023

The programme ends on 26 May for the incubation phase and 21 November 2023 for acceleration phase (Top 5 only).

• Prototyping and MVP Development
• Investor Preparedness and Deal Structuring
• Product Design
• Customer Discovery and Validation
• Business Modelling
• Brand Development
• Financial Modelling and Management
• Sales and Marketing
• Intellectual Property, Legal Processes and Structures

The prize money is used to develop your technology that will help to grow your business