UNICEF StartUp Lab Accelerator for Social Impact Startups
if your startup is building technology with real social impact, the UNICEF StartUp Lab offers a six-month accelerator tailored for ventures dedicated too improving children’s lives and advancing sustainable development. It’s a chance to boost your capabilities, secure funding, and gain entry into networks that matter.
Based in Accra, Ghana, UNICEF’s StartUp Lab has operated since 2019 and is implemented in partnership with organizations such as MEST Africa and supported by KOICA.
Over its cohorts, the program has selected 25 startups per intake and helped them refine their business models, strengthen solutions, and gain exposure to UNICEF’s global network. Such as, the 2024 cohort of 25 startups spanned sectors including health, agri-tech, ed-tech, and WASH (water, sanitation & hygiene).
For a founder in Africa seeking to scale a social impact startup, this offers:
- Structured mentorship from UNICEF and industry specialists
- Access to funding for prototyping and scale-up (e.g., GHS 75,000 and GHS 150,000 in earlier calls)
- Potential pathway to global recognition as a Digital public Good (DPG) if your solution is open-source and scalable
- Access to a network of stakeholders: investors, partners, programmes of UNICEF across health, education, WASH, etc
Program benefits
- Prototyping funding support (historically ~GHS 75,000) and scale-up support for select startups (historically ~GHS 150,000) (UNICEF)
- Six-month accelerator journey: intensive support,curriculum,mentorship,and exposure to market/impact networks
- Technical and business assistance: refining your solution,clarifying impact metrics,improving your business model
- Access to UNICEF’s programs and ecosystem: take advantage of their reach and credibility
- Possibility to build or adapt your tool as an open-source Digital Public good (DPG),making your impact scalable and shareable globally