Google has launched an accelerator focused on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will provide social impact startups with access to training, mentorship and technical support.
The new programme, which is open to startups from Africa as well as Europe and the Middle East working to create a healthier and more sustainable future, will offer founders the chance to work with Google engineers and receive mentoring from over 20 teams at Google, as well as outside experts and local mentors.
Startups will be selected based on the SDGs, including poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. Applications will open in the next few weeks, with between eight and 10 startups to be chosen to take part in the six-month accelerator programme in early 2020. A second cohort will be selected later in the year.
“The programme is designed to address the unique challenges founders face when building a social impact company,” Kate Brandt, Google’s chief sustainability officer, said in a blog post.
This means offering startups access to product and engineering expertise, business development services, and access to funding, with the accelerator helping participants connect and work with a wider base of potential investors.
