SEED program

Zafy Tody is a startup incubator as well as a (pro-bono) Business Angel which focuses on a selection of 5 to 10 startups per year, all based in Madagascar. It has the ambition to quickly become a startup ecosystem catalyst in Madagascar.

Content

Zafy Tody offers an end-to-end incubation of selected startups, including their funding without requesting any equity or percentage of ownership in the future business venture. The commitment is contractually mutual, in order to build a trusted collaboration during the incubation year and beyond: more precisely, any incubated startup that has received any funding from Zafy Tody will morally commit to injecting the same amount of funding into supporting another selected startup once making profit for at least 2 successive years.

Duration

The program takes place over 6 months, the startups evolving at their own pace and needs over this period.

Candidate Profile

No criteria is eliminatory, each project leader must weigh his/her commitment to his/her own startup venture as well as to the incubation journey.

• Under 40 years old
• Malagasy or Zanatany (vazaha, karana, sinoa, etc.) with a Malagasy co-founder to primarily represent the startup in African and international events, simply because this whole initiative is also about promoting the image of our country, Madagascar, and especially to help create models of success who could boost pride and hope for other Malagasy entrepreneurs
• Local, i.e. living locally in Madagascar, with no intention of leaving the country in the short or medium term
• We like the profile and background of “grassroots self-made man / woman” defined in Wikipedia as “a person from a poor or disadvantaged background who still manages to succeed in technical, financial or other fields, based on qualities such as persistence, hard work and resourcefulness, as opposed to achieving these goals through inherited wealth, family ties, or other privileges”
• Academically brilliant and / or with autodidact “serial entrepreneur” profile, i.e. with relentless entrepreneurial spirit and resilience, while being creative / innovative
• Agile on digital technologies
• Ready to operate in English, and especially to compete in fundraising events for startups in Africa, Asia, Europe and Silicon Valley

Process and Timeline

The selection will be focused more particularly on the entrepreneurial profile of the project leader who will demonstrate his/her level of commitment and passion as well as his/her mastery of the subject and its overall context. The project itself must necessarily have a Tech or digital component whatever the sector of activity or industry being targeted.

In order to assess the project candidacy, the following criteria are required:

• project with a Tech / digital component, whatever the industry or sector of activity: it can be startups in agriculture or food, tourism, education, services, trade, finance, healthcare, etc. relying on one or more Tech components: Cloud, Mobile, Social Networks, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Analytics & Big Data, Blockchain, etc. A special attention will be given to Sustainable Development projects.
• presentation documents containing the description of the project and its innovative nature, the added value of the digital component, the target market, the competitors, the business model, etc.

To apply

To submit your application, please fill out the online form: https://forms.gle/DCKtJVeMGFxVNjDS9