African startups will be able to participate for the first time in the Facebook Connectivity program, which supports companies that are creating innovative solutions to deliver faster, cheaper and better Internet services and connectivity to people across Africa.
“Innovation is at the heart of Facebook and today we are opening up our London accelerator programme to Africa. The selected start-ups will gain access to experts from across Facebook including those working in AR (augmented reality), blockchain and AI (artificial intelligence). We hope that through this programme we can help nurture a new cohort of businesses that make a positive impact on the world.” said Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The program lasts 12 weeks and will start in November. Startups will have access to Facebook employees’ knowledge and experience, which includes hands-on workshops on product orientation, engineering, growth, impact and personalized mentoring. Professionals available at the company to participate in the program include product managers, data scientists, marketers, recruitment specialists, and engineers who will provide guidance to startups involved in the program.
The program is designed for startups across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) who are impacting on a scale using artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR), blockchain and other Facebook technologies.
Hosted at Facebook’s London technology office, the program will run in partnership with digital consulting agency Founders Intelligence.
Startups can apply through the site until October 18th at https://facebookacceleratorlondon.splashthat.com/