Call For Applications: Africa Startup Law Accelerator 2023

About

The Africa Startup Law Accelerator will bridge the gaps by providing a tailor-made 12-week virtual program designed to accelerate the business growth, legal setup & compliance, operational capacity and impact of early-stage and growth-stage startups working on legal-tech and justice innovations.

Training Program Features

The 12-week virtual training program of the Africa Startup Law Accelerator focuses on the following among others:

• Business Structuring & Legal Compliance: How to structure your business to avoid legal risks and to achieve legal compliance in the sector your startup operates in.

• Product Development: How to refine your product using human-centered design to improve the user experience.
• Commercial Strategy: How to identify the market opportunity, navigate operational bottlenecks, create growth strategies and explore new business models & revenue streams.
• Marketing & Branding: How to define your target audience, create marketing goals & strategies, digital marketing and build a brand.
• Business Development, Sales & Partnership Building: How to build sales strategies, how to build and manage partnerships, business presentation and negotiation skills.
• Financial Modelling & Analysis: How to prepare financial statements, build financial models, forecasting, revenue assumptions and analyze financial outcomes.
• Investor Readiness & Fundraising: How to prepare investor decks, storytelling, understanding the different types of funding, and the basics of valuation calculation.

Program Benefits:

• Access to the Lawyers Hub community of African Lawyers for customer discovery, product testing and growth.
• Opportunity to showcase your legal-tech startup at the annual Africa Law Tech Festival and Africa Legal Innovation Week.
• Tailor-made and practical virtual training program for scaling legal-tech startups delivered by industry experts.
• Investment readiness support and connection to legal-tech investors for funding.
• Customized training on how startups can contribute to legal-tech policy in their country and access to a vibrant policy engagement forum.
• Access to premium legal advisory services and business support services from professionals.
• Access to the exclusive network of continental ecosystem partners, toolkits and tech events.
• Business coaching and mentorship suited to your startup needs.

Expected Outcomes

• Upon completion of the accelerator program, it is expected that the selected startups will achieve:
  • An increased customer base that should translate to increased revenues
  • An improved user experience of their product.
  • An increase in operational efficiency in their business.
  • Formal registration, incorporation and legal compliance of their business.
  • Acquired network of potential suppliers and customers.
  • Built relationships with investors.
  • Developed a database of international business contacts.
  • Enjoyed continental and international exposure and visibility.
  • Built a presence in all major digital channels, especially on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).

Who are they looking for?

• The Africa Startup Law Accelerator is looking for early and growth-stage startups in East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and North Africa regions providing innovative tech solutions to:
  • Enhance legal practice for legal practitioners through automated contracts management, matter management, governance, risk, and compliance technologies, E-billing, collaboration tools, digital legal information and case law access tools, cloud services, legal data insights and A.I or blockchain registries
  • Enhance access to legal services for small businesses in Africa through digital legal self-service platforms, affordable legal advisory platforms, online dispute resolution or legal assurance solutions.
  • Enhance access to access to justice for ordinary citizens through affordable legal self-service platforms, legal information and advice platforms, government document processing, online dispute resolution or legal assurance solutions.

Eligibility Criteria:

The 12-week virtual training program of the Africa Startup Law Accelerator focuses on the following among others:

• The startup provides legal-tech solutions that enhance legal practice for legal practitioners or enhance access to justice and legal services for ordinary citizens and small businesses in Africa.
• The startup has a working solution with traction that provides evidence for the potential for the product to be a fit for its market.
• The startup has a strong team with complementary skills and shared vision, driven by making impact, and led by inspiring founder(s)
• The startup has a strong sustainability and revenue model that shows potential and evidence for the startup to become financially sustainable within a reasonable timeframe, whether a non-profit or for-profit.
• The startup has ambition and sound plans to scale into different markets beyond the immediate target market (depending on how far along the startup is in its growth journey).

Deadline: December 1, 2023

Click  HERE to Apply