Energy Camps
The accelerator with a difference
Apply for the Energy Camp for startups in West and Central Africa!
Are you an innovative entrepreneur looking to transform the energy supply and livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa? Do you have a mature product or business idea and/or a first prototype for the decentralised renewable energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa? Are you based in West or Central Africa?
This is your chance!
Energy Camp:
From 14 to 19 March 2025, the next Energy Camp will take place in Lagos, bringing together up to 12 visionary founders like you.
Application period starts on 01.12.2024.
For an entire week, you will engage in an intensive programme that includes interactive training sessions, networking opportunities with other innovators and tailored workshops.
Here’s what awaits you at the Energy Camp:
- Customer-Focused Product Development: Discover how to refine your product to meet customer needs effectively.
- Exploring Sales Channels: Identify and leverage the best sales channels for your business.
- Building a Dynamic Team: Learn the best ways to put together and manage a powerful team.
- Financial Planning Essentials: Get crucial insights into financial planning and management.
- Pitching to Investors/Partners: Master the art of presenting your startup to investors and potential partners.
- Funding Applications: Understand what funders look for in applications and proposals to increase your chances of success.
Fellowship:
The Energy Camp will culminate in an international Demo Day (online), where you get the chance to pitch your solution to a global audience of investors, organisations, corporatives.
But that’s not the end of our journey together! As a Fellow of Startup|Energy, you’ll continue to benefit from our support:
Tailored coaching: Thanks to the Energy Camp, we know your startup better. In tailored coaching sessions, we provide you with specific support for the further development of your startup.
Global Exposure: Present your startup to an international audience at our online pitch event.
Exclusive Expert Webinars: Participate in exclusive webinars with industry experts who can offer invaluable advice.
Network Access: Gain continuous access to our extensive international network and the collective entrepreneurial knowledge of our coaches.
Media Exposure: Share your progress and milestones through Sun-Connect News, a global news-magazine reaching over 10,000 readers worldwide every week.
Don’t miss this opportunity to accelerate your startup’s growth!
5 reasons to apply for the next Energy Camp:
Proven Success: 80% of our Fellows generate revenue, and collectively, they have raised nearly USD 3 million in grants, loans, and equity and won 18 Awards. Join a program with a track record of tangible results.
Practical Focus: Our Energy Camp is practice-oriented, not just theoretical. The training is tailored to the specific needs of African energy startups, ensuring you get relevant and actionable insights.
Expert Guidance: Benefit from the expertise of our trainers and coaches, who are experienced entrepreneurs with deep knowledge of the African market. Receive hands-on support from those who understand your unique challenges.
Valuable Connections: While we don’t offer cash rewards, we provide access to investors and the opportunity to present your startup to an international audience. Open doors to funding and global exposure.
Peer-to-Peer-Learning: As a Fellow of Startup|Energy, you’ll gain excess to exclusive peer-to-peer learning sessions with other startup founders, where you can share insights, collaborate, and inspire each other.
This is what some of our fellows say:
“I have participated in very high level accelerators and incubators yet the Energy Camp experience is exciting in a different way. It personalizes the experience and provides specific feedback that each startup in the cohort needs.”
Temitope Philip Oguntade
Founder Chanels Innovations, Rwanda
“Life changing! The camp has been eye-opening and has provoked my thinking towards entrepreneurship.”
Abednego Wabolola Okwakau
Founder Zeta Hub, Kenya
“I have now participated in several startup programs. Startup|Energy was important for me in a special way: Because the coaches are experienced entrepreneurs who have accompanied me for a long time (and still do!). The exchange with the other startups also helps a lot. We have now become a real startup community!”
Norah Magero, Founder Drop Access, Kenya
How to apply?
First:
Check if you are eligible
Look at the eligibility criteria in the right-hand column or use our easy-to-use eligibility check.
Second:
Fill out the application form
If you are eligible, then nothing stands in the way of your application for the Energy Camp! Simply fill out the application form carefully and completely.
Please notice:
We expressly encourage female startup founders to apply. If applications are equally qualified, preference will be given to start-ups led by women.
The closing date for applications is January 05, 2025, 23:59 GMT.
If you have questions, please check our FAQ – or write an email to: mail@startup-energy.org.
To be eligible startups must fulfill the following criteria:
⇒ You also can use our easy-to-use eligibility check.
Business sector
Your startup must offer a product or service for decentralized energy market in sub-Saharan Africa, such as:
- Energy production or distribution
- Storage systems
- Energy solutions or services for example for health, education, water, sanitation, consumption, mobility, agriculture
- Energy-efficient products and services
- Financing solutions
- Energy management
- Recycling / Repurposing
- Digital solutions for decentralized energy
- Smart Grid
Type of product / service
Your business idea:
- is a development of a new product or service with MVP (not just an idea), or
- a significant improvement of an existing product / service, or
- you introduce with your startup a known product / service into new markets.
Location
Headquarters registered in West or Central Africa: in a member country of ECOWAS or ECCAS
(Startups in East Africa: please apply in August 2025 for the Energy Camp in Nairobi, Oct 2025)
Majority of shares
African nationals or Non-Africans living permanently in Africa
Experience
One of the founders already has at least 2 years of business experience
Status
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is ready, first pilot customers are existing or pilot project realised
Independence
No branch or franchise of an international company
Age of product/service
max. 10 years
Investment
The company did not yet receive > 500k euros from investors
Application period ends on January 05, 2025.
This program is supported by:
GET.invest is a European programme that mobilises investment in renewable energy, co-funded by the European Union, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria.
The Solar Energy Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Germany that has been working for more than 20 years to promote decentralised solar power in sub-Saharan Africa.