Startup Africa Roadtrip is now in its ninth year. The programme, promoted by the BeEntrepreneurs Association, is ready for the sixth edition of its Next Generation Africa initiative, confirming its status as one of the longest-running and most concrete initiatives in building bridges between the African and European entrepreneurial ecosystems.
The sixth edition of Next Generation Africa will take place between 11 and 15 August 2025, with the 25 selected start-ups gathering in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for an intensive, free boot camp. The programme includes training led by the association’s team of volunteers, who are professionals active in innovation, start-ups and venture capital, personalised mentoring, networking with investors and partners, and, above all, the opportunity to participate in the 2026 Italian roadshow.
“Tanzania represents the natural evolution of a journey that began in Uganda: today we can see first-hand how the seeds planted in 2017 have germinated and borne unexpected fruit,” explains Susanna Ercolani, programme leader and member of the board of directors of BeEntrepreneurs. “Start-ups that were just ideas in our early programmes have become structured companies, attracted investment and created jobs. This shows us that it was not about welfare, but about building authentic bridges between ecosystems that feed off each other.”
The bootcamp will culminate in a demo day at the Italian Ambassador’s residence, where the four best startups will win a fully funded trip to Italy in 2026 to meet investors, universities, accelerators and partners in the Italian and European innovation ecosystem.
The choice of Tanzania is not accidental. Although in 2023 the total funding raised by Tanzanian start-ups was around $25 million, a figure that reflects the immaturity of an ecosystem still in its infancy, the country is rapidly gaining attention from international investors and players. It is precisely in contexts such as this, where potential is still untapped but the conditions for accelerated growth are beginning to take shape, that Next Generation Africa finds its natural habitat.
Tanzania now has over 60 technology hubs spread across the country, confirming the growth of infrastructure supporting innovation. A comparison with more advanced countries such as Kenya, which attracted around $800 million in investment during the same period, highlights the margin for growth still available and the ample scope for support, acceleration and investment programmes.
A concrete example of Tanzania’s potential is the Fintech NALA, the first startup in the country selected by Y-Combinator, one of the most important global accelerators. In 2024, it raised a Series A round of $40 million. becoming profitable and expanding its presence in 11 African markets, with over 700,000 users served. This case demonstrates how even in young ecosystems, companies capable of competing and scaling up at a continental level can emerge.
The figures for the 2025-2026 selection confirm the programme’s growing appeal. Startup Africa Roadtrip has reached its highest milestone ever: 672 applications received from African startups, a 50% increase compared to the previous programme. It is not just a number, but a sign of a growing movement.
The majority of applications came from Tanzania, followed by Kenya and Uganda, which together account for almost 75% of all applications. Even more impressive: 50% of startups have at least one female founder, and almost 70% already have users or paying customers.
The most represented sectors show a clear focus on the continent’s real needs: agriculture and agritech lead with 35% of applications, followed by education (13%), healthcare and healthtech (10.4%), renewable energy (9%), software and artificial intelligence (8.6%), and fintech (7.6%). The remaining 16.4% includes sectors such as retail, tourism, logistics, manufacturing and social enterprise.
The average profile of the founders reveals a generation of mature and well-prepared entrepreneurs: the teams have an average of more than two co-founders, 72% of startups are already legally established, more than half are currently raising funds mainly in the pre-seed and seed phases, and the median year of foundation is 2022.
To coincide with the launch of the new edition of the programme, the fourth episode of the documentary series dedicated to the East African innovation ecosystem, told through the activities of Next Generation Africa 2023/24, has been published on the project’s YouTube channel. This new episode is set in Rwanda, one of the most vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in the region. Created by videomaker Valerio Casale, the documentary paints a vivid portrait of Kigali, with its red dirt roads, bright green hills and endless skies, but above all captures its entrepreneurial energy. The episode follows the 25 startups selected for an intensive week of bootcamp, mentoring and local connections, and recounts the journey of the five winners: Luna, SLS Energy, Ubuntu Education, Ecoplastile and Shambapro, protagonists of the international roadshow in Italy between Milan and Bologna in 2024.
A video that not only documents but also sets the stage for the new Tanzanian adventure, showing how each edition of the programme contributes to strengthening an increasingly solid and interconnected African entrepreneurial network.
Since 2017, BeEntrepreneurs has organised editions of the programme involving several countries: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Morocco, accelerating over 150 start-ups and training 450 entrepreneurs, including over 230 women. The programmes have an average satisfaction rating of 4.7 out of 5 from participants, while the supported start-ups have raised a total of over €15 million in investments.
Among the accelerated start-ups, ClinicPesa stands out for healthcare microfinance, Zembo for electric mobility, Shamba Pride for agritech, together with Farmer Lifeline, EcoPlastile, Zofi Cash and KaCyber. Prestigious Italian partners such as the Italian Embassy in Uganda, Fondazione Cariplo, Banca Etica, Primo Capital, Cisco, Joule, Esade, Sisal and WMF have supported the projects, while the programme has attracted growing media attention and has a significant following on social media channels.
“Startup Africa Roadtrip is not just an acceleration programme,” concludes Andrea Censoni, founder of the initiative and president of the BeEntrepreneurs association. “It is proof that when you truly believe in people and their potential, when you build bridges instead of walls, when you bet on innovation as a force for social change, results follow. These nine years have taught us that Africa does not need assistance, but authentic partnerships. And we will continue to build them, one startup at a time, because we have learned that supporting nascent innovation in Africa can not only be more effective than traditional aid, but also generates authentic solutions to real challenges, creates jobs and local development, and builds lasting relationships between entrepreneurial ecosystems that enrich each other.” .
A project that, far from the institutional spotlight but close to the business world, continues to forge lasting relationships between two continents, demonstrating that the most effective cooperation comes from the bottom up, from encounters between people who share common visions and values.
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