AI Ventures Accelerator offers $10,000 for women-led African startups

African startups led by young women have been invited to apply for the AI Ventures Accelerator, a programme where selected teams would receive $10,000 in equity-free seed funding.

The initiative is run by Technovation and Generation Unlimited and also offers mentorship support.

The accelerator aims to support young female innovators with technology-driven solutions while strengthening entrepreneurship and AI skills in developing economies.

What they are saying

The AI Ventures Accelerator is a 12-week intensive programme that equips participants with both technical and business skills required to launch and scale an AI venture.

• Teams will learn foundational AI, entrepreneurship and human-centred design while developing and prototyping real-world technology solutions. Participants will also learn to use generative AI tools, train machine learning models, curate datasets, and build web or mobile applications that address real problems.
• The programme provides expert mentorship and guidance to help participants develop investor-ready business pitches, strengthen leadership and communication skills and refine their business strategies
• At the end of the programme, the top 10 teams will share $100,000 in equity-free seed funding and present their ventures at a live Demo Day event.

The funding is intended to help teams hire developers, acquire customers, build products and scale their startups beyond the prototype stage.

Eligibility requirements 

The accelerator is open to young women aged 19 to 24. Teams of two to four are preferred, but solo founders can still apply.

• Applicants should be genuinely interested in technology and AI, have a real problem they want to solve, and be ready to commit about 10 to 15 hours each week over the 12-week programme.
• They also need to be living in a UNICEF programme country. To apply click here.
• To win a spot in the AI Ventures Accelerator, you need to show that you want to fix a real problem in your community, explain the problem clearly and why it matters.
• Show who it affects and why people would want a solution. Prove you can talk to the people who have the problem so you can test your idea and make sure it truly helps, and show you and your team really cares about solving the problem.

What you should know 

Accelerator programs are like fast-track growth camps for startups. They are short, intensive programmes designed to help founders turn an early idea or young business into something strong enough to attract customers, investors, and real market traction.

Typically, an accelerator runs for a few weeks to a few months. During that time, founders receive hands-on guidance from experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts who help them refine their product, sharpen their business model, and avoid common mistakes.

They also learn practical skills such as pitching to investors, understanding customers, building scalable systems, and marketing effectively.

• Last month, Google opened applications for the 10th cohort of the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, reinforcing the growing push to support AI-driven innovation across the continent.
• The 12-week hybrid programme targets Series A startups building Africa-focused solutions using artificial intelligence and machine learning, with applications open until March 18, 2026. Selected startups gain access to Google’s AI expertise, technical resources, mentorship and global networking opportunities aimed at strengthening products and scaling responsibly.

Last year, six Nigerian startups were selected for cohort 9 of the Google for Startups Accelerator programme. The six startups were among the 15 AI-driven ventures selected from across Africa.

AI Ventures Accelerator offers $10,000 for women-led African startups  - Nairametrics