NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 3 – The Africa Blockchain Festival has launched a fellowship programme that will connect African blockchain and artificial intelligence startups with investors, venture capital firms and mentors.
The ABF Fellowship Programme 2026 will be held as part of the Africa Blockchain Festival, scheduled for October 15 to 17 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi.
The programme has been developed in partnership with early-stage venture capital firm Antler and pan-African venture capital firm Launch Africa Ventures, alongside Hevy Hub.
Selected startups will pitch their businesses to investors during the festival and gain access to the ABF Deal Room, where founders will hold investment discussions with potential financiers and business partners.
The programme will also provide selected startups with post-event mentorship to help them prepare for further investment and expansion.
Antler will serve as the official venture partner and will participate in the identification and evaluation of startups, sit on the jury for the fellowship pitch competition and conduct a technical startup workshop.
Launch Africa Ventures will also support the vetting of startups and participate in judging the pitch competition.
The fellowship will target startups working in areas including blockchain infrastructure, artificial intelligence, fintech, payments, stablecoins, tokenisation, digital identity and cybersecurity.
Applications will be open to founders from East Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, as well as entrepreneurs from West and Southern Africa.
Africa Blockchain Festival Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Olubunmi Fabanwo said the programme is intended to address the difficulty African startups face in accessing capital and experienced mentors.
“Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world, and that generation is growing up at a time when technology is completely changing what is possible,” Fabanwo said.
“The challenge is making sure that talent has access to the capital, mentorship and networks required to turn those ideas into sustainable companies.”
Fabanwo said the festival wants participating founders to leave with investor contacts and a clearer path to scaling their businesses.
“We don’t want Africa Blockchain Festival to simply be a place where people spend three days talking about the future of technology. We want founders to walk into the festival with an idea, or growing company and leave with new relationships, investor conversations, mentorship and a clearer pathway towards scaling their business,” he said.
He said access to capital remains a major challenge for young technology entrepreneurs despite the growing number of African startups developing solutions in areas such as payments, agriculture, healthcare, trade, education and financial inclusion.
“Africa cannot build a serious technology economy if some of our best ideas struggle to get beyond the prototype stage simply because the founder could not get into the right room,” Fabanwo said.
The programme comes as African entrepreneurs increasingly use artificial intelligence, blockchain and digital financial technologies to develop products targeting local and international markets.
Fabanwo said the long-term objective is to help more African entrepreneurs build and own technology companies on the continent.
“We want young Africans to see technology as more than a career where they work for somebody else’s company. They can build the companies themselves, create intellectual property here, employ people here and develop solutions in Africa that eventually compete globally,” he said.
