#1 - COVID-19 Relief Programme

The business has to be legally registered in Egypt, Jordan, Ghana, Kenya, or Indonesia.

Yes. All businesses participating in the programme need to be legally registered in Egypt, Jordan, Ghana, Kenya, or Indonesia between the beginning of 2010 and the end of 2019.

The business must have been legally registered between January 2010 and December 2019

The business must be impacted severely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That can be either reduced team size, canceled sales, halted operations, etc.

The programme supports young, innovative businesses in the eligible countries. The business needs to be legally registered and have proof of previous revenue reflected on the company’s bank account, along with proof of paying clients and customers in 2019 or earlier.

Unfortunately, no. This programme is aimed at businesses that are already legally registered, have been previously operational and have proof of previous revenue or paying clients and customers.

1-3 team members are eligible for financial support per business. At least one must be a founder or co-founder of the business. Other applicants can be part of the executive management team.

The application has to be completed by a founder or legally authorized representative (e.g. Managing Director). The other members that can receive financial support can be part of the Executive Management team.

We don’t have an age limit for participating team members. However, there is a minimum age for eligibility for team members of 18 years.

We have a minimum team size of 3 employees per business, including the founder(s)

The business that can apply should be fully independent, neither a partner company nor an associated company.

You can apply if your business has investors as shareholders (this also applies if investors are majority shareholders). But your business has to be independent (it is neither a partner company nor an associated company, i.e. it is not majority-owned of another company).

Throughout the selection process, the entrepreneur will be requested to submit a previous financial statement for his business to prove that he had a working profitable business model before the COVID-19 pandemic and that his/her business was not facing liquidity problems prior March 2020.

You don’t have to pay anything to participate in the programme. We provide you with financial support of up to 9,000 EUR per company for the duration of the programme to ensure your business survives and thrives in the face of uncertainty faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

No. The Empowering Entrepreneurs Initiative was created to provide direct support for entrepreneurs in emerging markets. We do not take any equity or options of the participating companies. No strings attached.

No, the financial support will be transferred to a maximum of three bank accounts belonging to founders or managing partners of the company (including you, the applicant). Up to three founders/managers will receive up to €500 per month. In order to receive the financial support each of the three founders/managers must have bank accounts in their own name

Please review the different eligibility criteria for the business either on the FAQ section focusing on eligibility criteria or on the application’s guidelines.

Yes you can, as long as your company is registered between January 2010 and December 2019 in one of the following countries: Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Kenya, and Ghana.

Please visit the application page on the enpact website. The deadline for the first application phase for the COVID-19 Relief Program is August 30, 2020 at 23:59 Berlin time.

The selection process consists of several rounds. In the first round, you submit basic data about yourself and your business. In the second round, you will have to submit more detailed information about your motivation, competitors, finances, etc. Only shortlisted candidates will proceed to the third round, where they will be interviewed by different staff of enpact’s headquarters and local offices.

The selection process will be finalized by the end of September. The actual programme will start officially with its activities in October, 2020.

We only ask questions about your team, business model, motivation, financial situation, competitors, etc.

Due to the global and wide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses, we are anticipating a large volume of applications. This will  limit our ability to provide individualized feedback in case of rejection. The actual scoring cards for the selection criteria will be made transparent in a separate document

By getting accepted in this programme, your business will receive direct financial support (Up to €9,000 per business) over 6 months. 

Your business will receive technical support in the form of business development workshops that help your business cope with the current market changes due to COVID-19 pandemic and individual mentoring sessions, adapted to your business’ needs.

In addition, you will be granted access to enpact’s global network of +1000 startups, +300 mentors, experts and investors across five different continents.

enpact mentors will be providing you and your business with a holistic approach towards your overall business development. You will be paired with an enpact mentor with relevant experience to the sector in which your business operates. Your relationship with your assigned mentor is long-term and can continue even after the programme ends.

enpact experts will be providing you and the other participants with deep-dive workshops that focus on specific business verticals during the programme duration.

After the end of the programme, you will become an enpact fellow. As a fellow, you will have access to the international enpact community of entrepreneurs, support organisations, mentors and experts that will either directly support your business or unleash new opportunities and potential collaborations for you and for your business.

The COVID-19 Relief Programme’s duration is six months. During these six months, your business will receive direct financial support, technical support in the form of business development workshops that help your business cope with the current market changes due to COVID-19 pandemic and individual mentoring sessions, adapted to your business’ needs.

For your business to best benefit from the COVID-19 Relief Programme, we advise you to commit to attending the deep-dive workshops that will help your business thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and to get the most out of your 1-on-1 mentoring experience with your assigned enpact mentor. During the programme, with the support of the local enpact teams, you will be setting milestones for your business that you will need to meet and track in the programme’s duration and for the six months thereafter.

The Empowering Entrepreneurship Initiative was developed by the non-profit organisation enpact e.V. In its debut, the programme will now operate two programmes designed to deliver economic relief from the COVID-19 crisis: the “COVID-19 Relief Programme” and the “COVID-19 Relief Programme for Tourism”. The programmes are both funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The Strategic Partnership Technology in Africa (SPTA) works in cooperation with enpact to promote the implementation of the programme. The first programme, however, is implemented independently by enpact. For the second programme, enpact cooperates with the TUI Care Foundation.

A total of 330 founding teams of young, innovative businesses in Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Kenya will be supported with a combination of mentoring, workshops, network building, and financial support.