Jasiri Talent Investor — Cohort 9 (Food Systems) | $28,000 Grant, No Equity

About this opportunity

Jasiri Talent Investor is a 13-month programme that backs battle-tested African talent before the venture exists — betting on the individual pre-idea, pre-team, pre-venture, and providing founder-friendly capital, infrastructure and guidance from venture formation to market validation. Cohort 9 is the ninth edition and is focused on Food Systems. Rather than running cohorts across a broad range of sectors, Jasiri now focuses each cohort around a specific challenge area, aligning regulatory insight, technical expertise, partner networks and venture support more closely around the constraints of that market. Eastern Africa's food systems underserve hundreds of millions of people at various steps of the chain — described as one of the continent's biggest opportunities. You do not need a food systems background: engineers, operators, scientists, financiers and marketers all build food systems ventures. Sector knowledge can be learned; what matters is being driven, good at what you do, and ready to pursue a problem worth solving. The programme runs in three stages: Jasiri Jumpstart (online, 1 month, from 18 January 2027), a three-month Residential Intensive in Kigali, Rwanda (17 February – 23 May 2027) covering team formation and problem, customer and product development, and Venture Creation of up to nine months launching in Rwanda, Kenya or Ethiopia. Selection is a six-stage process: application form, Entrepreneurial Intentions assessment, psychometrics plus a short video on 'Why Jasiri, and why now', a live Selection Conference, interviews, and offer. Jasiri has selected 384 fellows who went on to create 143 new ventures, 98 of them still active, generating 4,797 new jobs and improving 48,306 lives.

Who can apply

• You are a Kenyan, Rwandan or Ethiopian citizen, at home or in the diaspora
• Ready to pursue entrepreneurship full-time as a career from January 2027
• Able and committed to relocate to Kigali for the three-month in-person Residential Intensive
• Committed to building a new venture in food systems
• Depth in your field — years of hands-on work in software, hardware, science, data, finance, operations or sales, with real work to show, not just credentials
• Proof you have built before — a business, side venture or hustle, having sold to customers and put your own time and money on the line
• A record of achievement as a problem solver and value creator
• Eager to co-found from scratch with equally ambitious peers
• Open-minded: ready to validate your idea and pivot it if the evidence says so
• You may apply while still employed, but selected fellows commit full-time with no side engagements for the programme duration

What you get

• Venture creation grant of USD 28,000, disbursed in three milestone-gated tranches
• NO equity taken — in East Africa, venture creation funding is grant-based
• Market validation funds of up to USD 3,000 per team for prototyping and testing
• Three-month Residential Intensive in Kigali fully covered: residence, meals, transport and health insurance
• Living support of USD 250 per month for 3 months
• Travel to and from Rwanda covered
• USD 30 communication support during Jumpstart
• Hands-on venture builders, coaches and vetted experts
• Partner value and credits: AWS, Notion, Perplexity, HubSpot
• Shared workspaces in Kigali, Nairobi and Addis Ababa
• Fully funded pathway to the Jasiri Growth Accelerator afterwards

How to apply

1. 1
   Review eligibility

   Check that you meet all criteria before starting your application.

2. 2
   Prepare documents

   Gather transcripts, recommendation letters, and any required essays or statements.

3. 3
   Submit application

   Apply directly through the official link below. Deadline: Rolling. No fixed deadline.