The short answer: match the kind of funding to your stage. Grants, competitions and fellowships suit an idea or a prototype. Accelerators and angel investors suit a working product with first users. Venture capital suits a company with revenue and growth. Then apply only where you meet every eligibility rule, with answers written for that funder.
Most founders who don't get funded never fail on the idea. They apply to the wrong things: a venture fund when they need a grant, a grant they aren't eligible for, or a programme whose deadline passed last month. This guide walks through the process in the order it actually happens, with real programmes open to founders in Africa as examples.
Step 1: Work out your stage
Every funder backs a particular stage. Applying outside it is the fastest way to a rejection, however good the business is. Be honest about where you are.
| Your stage | What you have | Funding that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Idea | A problem, a plan, maybe a prototype | Grants, pitch competitions, fellowships |
| Working product | A product people use, first customers | Accelerators, angel networks, pre-seed funds, grants |
| Revenue | Paying customers and early growth | Seed venture capital, revenue-based financing |
| Scaling | Repeatable growth across markets | Venture capital (Series A and later), debt |
Step 2: Choose the kind of funding
Grants, competitions and fellowships
Money you don't pay back and that costs no equity. Governments, foundations, development agencies and corporates run them, usually with tight eligibility rules and a fixed deadline. Nigeria's Student Venture Capital Grant, for example, gives student-led ventures up to N50 million equity-free, and the Jasiri Talent Investor programme funds founders from Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia before their company exists. Browse startup grants by country.
Accelerators
A fixed programme, usually about three months, with mentors, investor introductions and often an investment in return for equity. The Baobab Network takes applications on a rolling basis, Antler runs residencies in Lagos and Nairobi for founders who don't have a co-founder yet, and Techstars lists a USD 220,000 investment on its programme pages. Compare accelerators open now.
Angel investors
Individuals investing their own money, often through networks such as the Nairobi Business Angel Network, which backs pre-seed and seed tech startups in Kenya and East Africa. Angels move faster than funds and often add advice and introductions, but each one writes a smaller cheque.
Venture capital
Funds that buy equity in companies they think can grow very large. Each has a stage and a thesis. Microtraction invests USD 100,000 at pre-seed in teams with a technical founder and a working product. Ventures Platform and Launch Africa invest from seed, and Seedstars Africa Ventures looks for post-revenue companies. See investors backing African startups.
Revenue-based financing and debt
For businesses with steady revenue that don't want to sell equity. You repay from future revenue or on a schedule. Sabou Capital, for example, finances tech-enabled SMEs in Central and West Africa.
Step 3: Get ready before you apply
Funders ask for the same few things. Having them ready turns each application into an afternoon, not a month.
- A registered business and a tax number. Most grants and every investor will ask. In Nigeria that means the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a Tax Identification Number (TIN); in Kenya that means the Business Registration Service on eCitizen and a KRA PIN; in Ghana that means the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) and a Ghana Revenue Authority TIN; in Uganda that means the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and a URA TIN. Registration can take weeks, so do it early.
- A pitch deck of 10 to 12 slides: problem, solution, market, traction, business model, competition, team, and how much you are raising and what it will pay for. You can check your deck against investors' criteria before you send it.
- Evidence of traction: users, sales, pilots or letters of intent, with numbers and dates.
- A budget or use of funds that shows exactly what the money will pay for.
- Short founder bios that show why your team is the one to solve this problem.
Step 4: Find funding you actually qualify for
Read the eligibility rules before anything else: country, sector, stage, registration, and any rules on the founders' age or gender. Funders rarely bend them, so a near miss is a rejection. Then check the deadline. Many programmes open once or twice a year, and the ones marked rolling take applications all year.
Start with funding for your country: Nigeria · Kenya · South Africa · Ghana · Egypt · Uganda. Or see funding with deadlines coming up.
Step 5: Write an application that answers the funder
Each funder publishes what it is looking for. Your answers should address exactly that, in its words, with numbers. Strong applications have the same few things:
- A problem stated from the customer's side, with evidence it matters to them.
- What you have already done: users, revenue, pilots, partnerships, with figures.
- What the money will pay for, line by line, and what it will let you achieve.
- How you will measure the result, especially for grants with an impact goal.
- Why this team: the experience that makes you credible for this problem.
Answers copied from another application read that way. Reuse the facts, not the wording. Every programme page on Startup Map Hub has a "How to apply" section with that programme's own steps.
Step 6: After you apply
Submit before the last day, because portals slow down near deadlines, and keep a copy of everything you send. Note when the funder says it will decide. If you are rejected, ask for feedback where the funder offers it, fix what it points to, and keep your answers: most of them will serve the next application.
Mistakes that cost founders funding
- Applying to funders whose stage or country rules you don't meet.
- Leaving business registration until a deadline is a week away.
- A vague use of funds, with no budget behind it.
- Sending the same answers to every funder.
- Paying an "application fee" to a grant. Genuine grant programmes don't charge you to apply.
Common questions
What is the easiest startup funding to get in Africa?
None of it is easy, but some is easier to reach first. At the idea stage, pitch competitions, fellowships and grants are open to founders without revenue. Once you have a working product and first users, accelerators and angel networks become realistic. Venture capital comes later, once you have revenue and growth to show.
Do I need a registered company to get startup funding?
Usually, yes. Most grants and every equity investor need a registered business with a tax number. A few fellowships, such as Jasiri, back founders before the company exists, and some competitions accept unregistered teams, so check each programme's rules.
Do I have to give up equity?
Not for grants: they are non-dilutive. Many accelerators take a stake in return for their investment, and angels and venture capital funds always take equity. Revenue-based financing takes no equity, but you repay it from your revenue.
How long does it take to raise startup funding?
Grants and accelerators follow their own calendars, and many decide weeks or months after their deadline. An investment round often takes several months from first meeting to money in the bank, so start before you need the cash.
Does Startup Map Hub fund startups?
No. Startup Map Hub does not invest in or fund startups, and it doesn't decide who gets funded. We list funding that is open to founders, check which opportunities fit your startup, and help you prepare applications.
See the funding open to your startup
Create a free account and we match you to grants, accelerators and investors you are eligible for, by country, sector and stage, with their deadlines.
Show me the funds open to meUpdated October 2026. Programme details were checked on each programme's own website; deadlines and terms change, so confirm them there before you apply. Startup Map Hub does not fund startups.