About yher

We believe the Future is Female.
We know women are vibrant and vital architects of society.
We know women are the best levers for change in our world.
We also know female entrepreneurs need to be championed. 

More women are pursuing entrepreneurship in Africa per capita than anywhere else in the world. Each year, we bring together an impressive group of African female founders. Women running high-impact ventures aimed at improving the lives of people living in poverty across the continent will be eligible to apply and receive all the support and benefits the program offers.

Apply now for access to world-class training, funding and support for your venture.

The program

Our exclusive program aims to back female-led impact ventures across Africa.

Our program runs in a number of stages:

TRAINING

A week-long intensive entrepreneurship program designed to fast track your early stage venture. We’ll provide training and mentorship while also connecting you to an inspiring group of fellow female entrepreneurs working hard to create a better world.

HIGH-TEA

An opportunity for you to network with potential funders, mentors and supporters and to pitch your venture as the week comes to a close at an exclusive, invite-only high-tea event.

SUPPORT

Following the week long training, we provide your venture with six months of business support, tailored mentorship opportunities, perks from our partners, and access to small grants of up to $1,000. This package of support is designed to help you build a bulletproof strategy for impact and growth.

FUNDING

A total of $10,000 AUD in prize funding is awarded at the High Tea event to the winners of our peer review and audience votes, with an additional $40,000 AUD total in grant funding or investment to be awarded at the end of the 6 month program between the two most promising ventures.

COMMUNITY

Ongoing connection with our virtual community to help you along your entrepreneurial journey. Keep each other inspired and accountable with monthly check-ins, mastermind sessions and knowledge sharing.

Why Us?

It’s simple. We truly believe that change is driven by socially conscious businesses and we want to see women running bigger and better ventures.

We are entrepreneurs ourselves. We’ve started highly successful social enterprises, run global campaigns and accelerated 515 startup impact ventures across five countries, helping change the lives of 954,754 people living in poverty. We have also been the first to invest in some game-changing startups in Kenya and South Africa.

Thanks to our amazing supporters we are able to offer you this program for FREE.

We’ll cover the cost of everything apart from your travel to and from the program (Scholarships are available for those that need them).

We take you through a tried and tested curriculum designed specifically BY women FOR women.

We take a holistic approach to our program, accelerating not just your venture but YOU as an entrepreneur, ensuring you have the tools, techniques, courage and tribe of women supporting you to handle the roller coaster journey that is life as an impact entrepreneur.

Apply

Who we’re looking for:

Female-Led Ventures: You must have at least one female co-founder who will participate in the program.

Local: You intimately understand the problem that you are trying to solve.

Social Impact: Your venture must exist to improve the lives of people living in poverty.

Support Women and Girls: While not required, we preference ventures that have a clear mandate or mission to uplift females in some way.

In the Early Stages: You will have already launched a venture or run a pilot and have some early traction or proof of concept. You will typically have less than 100 customers or clients and have been in operation less than two years.

Applications for our 2022 yher Africa Invest program our now open. Places are limited so apply today!

FAQs

Have a question? Check out our FAQs first to see if we’ve answered it. If not, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to answer any question you have.

Your venture must have an impact on people living in poverty and we will preference ventures that have a clear mandate or mission to uplift females in some way.

Yes, as long as it is the female founder who attends the Accelerator week.

No, not as a requirement of the program. However the funding that is awarded at the end of the 6 month program may be distributed as either a grant or an investment. This will depend on the state of the venture and a due diligence process. 

We encourage you to use your networks or crowd funding sites to raise the funds necessary to cover your travel. If you have made attempts to raise funds yourself and are still unable to afford to attend, we do have some travel scholarships available.

Unfortunately, we can only accommodate one founder per venture. You’ll need to decide which of you is best to attend.

Unfortunately, no. We strongly believe in the power of local leaders with solutions to local problems, so we are looking to support ideas by locals for locals.

Please ensure you have a strong internet connection, try loading from another computer or device and if you are still having problems, please send an email to ygap.co (check email address) and we can send through a soft copy of the application via email.

Unfortunately, no. We are looking for ventures (they can be non-profit, social enterprise or for-profit) with a clear social impact that is core to your business model, not just an accidental by-product. We generally want to see evidence of this in the way you have structured your venture or your communications (website/social media etc.). It must be evident there is a clear value and priority placed on the social impact the venture generates.

Still have a question?

If you have any questions that we haven’t answered, please get in touch with us below: