Are you operating in Africa, looking to find a Japanese partner to scale your business? This is an exclusive opportunity to introduce your company to a Japanese investor and the world’s largest AC company from Japan.
Samurai Incubate Africa Inc., a Japanese venture capital firm focusing on investment into African startups, will co-organize ideathon with Daikin to find a great company to be invested in.
About the Ideathon:
‘Daikin -Samurai Incubate Africa Ideathon’ is an initiative by the leading multinational AirConditioning brand DAIKIN and African early stage VC – Samurai Incubate. The Ideathon aims to find the 10 most innovative startups across Africa who are keen to partner and expand their business with Japanese partners. The startup holds a chance to get in a partnership with Daikin and an exciting chance to get funded by Samurai Incubate Africa.
In Africa, Daikin is interested in trying a completely new and innovative method to sell their products (such as pay-as-you-go/subscription payment model, securitization of the items and etc.) to allow ACs to be beneficial and installable for as many households/commercial properties/buildings as possible.
In fact, the quality of Daikin’s products is absolutely appraised worldwide without a question, but in addition, the company has strong know-hows for capacity building of local engineers for installment/repair/maintenance of ACs, and therefore strongly wishes to contribute to job creation and empowerment of African people as well.
Eligibility:
- Your company is for-profit and registered as an independent legal entity;
- You have a product or service available on the market and generate revenue in the following business domains;
- Fintech (Daikin has a special interest in collaborating with startups having mobile money/banking/payment/lending solutions)
- E-Commerce
- Property Tech / Real Estate Tech
- Clean Energy
- Air Tech
- Your product or service is designed for scale;
- You have a very strong management team of at least 2 people;
- Your company is based in or planning to expand into one or more countries on the African continent where there is a demand for air conditioners;
- You are seeking an opportunity to be a potential African partner for scaling your business as well as Daikin’s business penetration in Africa by collaboration and partnership;
Benefits:
- All-expenses-paid trip (air ticket, accommodation and visa for up to two members of your team) to Nairobi on Dec 9-12, 2019
- Winner at the pitch event will have right to receive investment of $100,000-150,000 from Samurai Incubate Africa Inc.
- A few participants proposing great ideas of Daikin’s potential sales expansion during the ideathon will be invited to a committee in early 2020 in order to discuss partnership between the parties further in detail. Once the partnership is agreed and approved, you can commence Proof-of-Concept (POC) of such idea with budget fully covered by Daikin.
Timeline:
| Oct20 – Nov20 | Application period |
|---|---|
| Oct25 – Nov25 | Selection process / reviews / interviews |
| Nov10 – Nov 30 | Participants announced -Flamework of the discussion to be used during the ideathon will be provided from Samurai Incubate Africa Inc after the notification to the participants. |
| Dec 10-11 | Ideathon with Daikin and Samurai Incubate Africa to discuss what’s the best collaboration between you and Daikin in order to -scale your business growth -support Daikin’s business growth in Africa Pitch Event in the evening of December 11 and a winner will receive investment from Samurai Incubate Africa |
Application:
If you are selected as a participant startup, you are expected to:
- Prepare to explain why you could be a great African partner for Daikin and how your product / service can support Daikin’s business expansion
- Be prepared to travel to Nairobi in the period of December 9-12, 2019 to attend the event.
- If you are required a visa to travel to Kenya, take necessary procedures and acquire a visa before flying to Kenya. The visa fee will be reimbursed from us.
Apply here https://weetracker.com/startup-registration/
