The Norrsken Accelerator is part of the Norrsken Foundation founded by Niklas Adalberth, a co-founder of a successful Fintech company from Sweden. Norrsken Foundation is dedicated to funding and empowering entrepreneurs to build and scale purpose-driven businesses. Norrsken has a large investment portfolio and has built award-winning co-working spaces; we are pleased that one of them is located in Kigali, Rwanda.
Funding Opportunity
The funding opportunity is for early-stage technology startups that are building and scaling purpose-driven businesses to solve big problems. Norrsken is looking to provide funding of $125,000.00 to 20 early-stage technology startups. It is easy to understand why this funding is sought after, highly competitive and is targeted to startups that are potential unicorns.
Support for startups
In investment terms, unicorns are startups that are valued at around $ 1 billion US dollars or impact close to a billion people. Examples include AirBnB, Bolt and Canva; but more interesting, Niklas Adalberth’s Fintech, Klarna is also on the list of global unicorns. As a result, Norrsken has access to partnerships with many unicorn founders, world-class entrepreneurs, and top investors on the programme.
Selected startups will complete a highly targeted 8-week mentorship programme in Stockholm, Sweden, starting from July 2024. Like other accelerators, the programme includes mentorship, strategic guidance, and access to an ecosystem that includes a network of investors. But what we like about Norrsken is that the support is highly targeted. In other words, their programme is not a series of masterclasses that are generic and that eventually do not close the specific gaps the individual startups have.
The 8-week programme is not virtual, however, entrepreneurs may use part of the $125 000 funding for travel and living expenses in Stockholm. In exchange, Norrsken will take 7% equity in the business, more detailed information is on their website.
Qualification Criteria
Interested startups need to meet the following criteria:
- Early-stage and scalable using technology;
- Passed an idea-stage and have a product or service to demonstrate; or close to completing a minimum viable product (MVP);
- Significant impact in terms of reach and the potential to solve a real problem; and
- Passionate, dedicated and skilled founders.
Access the application forms here and must be completed by the end of April 2024.
Selected African startups in the Norrsken portfolio
To give an idea of the kind of startups that are good fit, Norrsken lists the following African startups in their large portfolio:
- HealthDart, a HealthTech in South Africa
- Sendstack, a TransportTech in Nigeria
- Umoja, an AgriFinTech in Tanzania
- Wala Health, a MedTech in Ghana
- Gradely, an EduTech in Nigeria
- Salad, a FinTech in Nigeria
- Nash, a FinTech in Kenya
- Fixa, a FinTech in Rwanda
- Appload, a TransportTech in Mozambique
Further information
One of our objectives is to empower small businesses and startups by curating funding opportunities that we come across. Refer to this page for other opportunities.
While formal company registration is not always a prerequisite for accessing funding, it is crucial for formalised entities to maintain compliance. Lack of proper governance will completely hinder any prospects of funding. For guides and articles on governance, please refer to this section of our site.
