Digital Energy Challenge 2025 for Startups (up to €150,000) – YOA

Deadline: May 16, 2025

Are you a Start-up trying to scale up your digital innovation challenge within the vitality sector in Africa?
The 2025 Digital Energy Challenge for Start-ups will reward 3 to 4 Start-ups which are creating digital revolutionary initiatives aimed toward accelerating entry to vitality, boosting the vitality transition and bettering the operational effectivity of gamers within the vitality entry and grid providers in Africa.

The three themes for the 2025 name for initiatives are:

• Universal electrical energy entry and mini-grids: Digital improvements within the area of mini-grids to maximize their effectivity and affect: vitality administration methods for the optimum use of unpolluted and renewable vitality; software program and {hardware} applied sciences for an environment friendly integration of productive use property; storage methods and algorithms minimizing using fossil gasoline turbines; instruments to facilitate interconnections with the primary grid and with different mini-grids; methods and algorithms for constructing-up nanogrids; geospatial information analytics for energy demand analysis and/or credit score threat evaluation.
• Efficient grid administration: Digital providers and merchandise guaranteeing a correct operation of the facility grid, with a deal with: info availability and communication methods; streamlining Business-As-Usual grid operational administration practices of the facility system; elevated energy availability and repair high quality.
• Resilience and decarbonation of energy methods: Digital-based options enabling the event of a greener and extra resilient energy infrastructure (encompassing technology methods in addition to the grid): extra renewable capability; grid stability and adaptability; vitality financial savings on the finish-consumer degree (Commercial & Industrial in addition to households).

Benefits

Each profitable Start-up will profit from:

• Financial help of up to €150K together with: grant funding to contribute to prices for gear, software program, coaching and recruitment ; Technical help (awarded on a case-by-case foundation), which might embrace challenge administration help, strategic and technical experience, and accounting/reporting help,
• A joint boot camp run by cross-sectorial specialists, to help challenge implementation, present sectorial insights, foster synergies between challenge winners and encourage greatest-apply sharing,
• Widespread communication campaigns piloted by AFD in the course of the choice section, award ceremony, bootcamp and for a time period after these occasions.

Eligibility

The Start-up should meet the next standards:

• Created lower than 10 years in the past
• Be within the pre-seed/early-stage financing section i.e. lower than €1M funding raised
• Annual turnover of lower than €1M
• Employ between 1 and 99 folks full-time

NGOs can apply beneath the Start-up class if the challenge meets one of many extra following standards:

• The challenge is about up as an organization as a department of the NGO
• The challenge has a devoted workforce and marketing strategy and clearly targets enterprise sustainability/profitability (e.g. plans to spin off as an unbiased entity)

Finally, the Start-up’s challenge should adhere to one of many three above-talked about themes and be:

• Digital i.e. primarily based on a telecom, laptop or cloud-primarily based expertise
• Innovative, both intrinsically or in contrast to the native market
• Local i.e. headquartered or with challenge administration actions within the nation of the challenge

Eligible Countries

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo Democratic Republic, Congo Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Application

Complete the application kind and put together the required paperwork. Submit your challenge by May 16, 2025 at 23:59 CET.

Click here to apply

For extra info, go to Digital Energy Challenge.