A) Background  

The University of Rwanda (UR) aspires to be an internationally recognized university that excels  in research and innovation, teaching and learning, and community engagement. In collaboration  with the Research and Innovation System in Africa (RISA), UR-CST through the African Center  of Excellence in the Internet of Things (ACEIoT) has established IoT and AI applied research  results in commercialization through an incubation hub. This incubation hub is hosted at the  African Centre of Excellence in the Internet of Things (ACEIoT) and has the following overall  objectives:  

• Facilitate the Technology/Knowledge Transfer from university to industries 
• Provision of required resources, infrastructure and knowledge through professional  training to incubates. 
• Support in developing new solutions that address societal challenges and reduce poverty. 
• Linking incubates with the industry for job opportunities and creating start-ups. • Strengthening Academia-Industry collaboration  

This call for innovative business concepts invites interested UR students, UR alumni, with  innovative projects and business ideas to submit their business concepts for a collaborative effort  to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that might fit the market needs and solve society’s  challenges.

B) Criteria for selection 

The innovative business concept must meet the following criteria:  

1. The business concept should be jointly developed by a team and implemented through the  practice venture process, or individuals sharing their dreams and passion. 
2. The business concept should demonstrate team composition which takes considerable  factor GESI, such as females, youth, and people with disability where necessary 
3. The business concept should contribute to country priorities as elaborated in the National  Strategy for Transformation (NST1) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
4. The business concept should demonstrate a high probability of profitability and financial  viability concept
5. The business concept should demonstrate a high degree of local appropriateness and a  degree of responsiveness to local community problems. 
6. The business concept should demonstrate sustainability in terms of its proposed business  models for business implementation 
7. The business concept should also clearly indicate why there's a need for funding
8. The business concept should also clearly demonstrate a unique value proposition and  alternative solution. 
9. The business idea should indicate its specific industry sector and adjacent sector.

C) Submission  

The proposed business concept should be based on IoT and AI as core technologies and meet the  aforementioned criteria for innovative businesses.  The submitted business concept note should therefore include a brief description of the following:  

• Title of the business concept  
• Industry or sector: for example, the agriculture industry.  
• Brief description of a business concept (500 words) 
• Brief description of team members and their specific roles  
• Summary of the problem statement and proposed alternative solutions fit (maximum 250  words) 
• Market segment or niche  
• Background of the founder and the promoter/ or co-founder (max 300 words) h. A brief explanation of why the concept is doable (max 200 words) 
• Brief description of how gender dimension, and inclusion of people with disabilities can  contributes in the implementation of your business idea (300 max words)  

Supporting documents: Complete concept note or project proposal in PDF together with, ID,  CV, student card or proof that you were a student at the University of Rwanda,  recommendation letter from the HoD in case the project has been recommended by the  department or School 

D) Pre-selection process  

A pre-selection process based on formal requirements and adherence to the requirements will be  conducted at the ACEIoT – Nyarugenge Campus and the the selected team will undertake  interview for further consideration 

What to expect: We would provide feedback to applicants on strong areas of their application and  areas where there is a need for improvement

E) Startup boot camp training at the IoT and AI -Incubation hub 

There will be free three training sessions opportunities with refreshment which will equip the  selected candidates with the knowledge and skills in IoT prototyping, entrepreneurship and  commercialization.  

At the end of all training sessions, a competition will be organized to select 6 best projects to be  funded. The incubatees will be hosted at the IoT and AI Incubation Hub for a period of 6 months  before the graduation of ventures to our acceleration platform.  

Selected best business concepts, will be allowed to attend several trainings organized by the  incubation hub.  

What to expect: The training aims to provide a business coach, mentorship, and guidance.  Incubates will get free access to expertise in their field and industry practitioners will be available  to share their success stories and business journey. 

F) Seed funding  

The selected best projects will be given market validation seed funding and business coaching as  incubates at the hub. There will be industry linkages with the project teams in further projects  development toward commercialization of the final product. 

G) The deadline for submission  

The deadline for submission is set for 14^th June 2024 at 11:59PM 

H) Application process 

All the concepts note and other supporting documents will be submitted through this link 

For any additional information, clarifications, or inquiry, you can contact the management  of the IoT and AI incubation Hub through these emails  

1. Damien Hanyurwimfura, hadamfr@gmail.com 
2. Desire Ngabo, dngabo@gmail.com   
3. Evariste Twahirwa, evatwah@gmail.com  

For more information, please visit the website: https://aceiot.ur.ac.rw/incubation/ NB: Only preselected innovative concept owners will be notified for further processes.