Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
The African Space Agency (AfSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have opened applications for the structured 12-month Business Innovation Programme. The programme is designed to help African Earth Observation (EO) startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sharpen their commercial offerings, validate their solutions in the market, and scale their businesses.
The programme, jointly implemented by ESA and the African Space Agency, with consortium partners GrowthAfrica, Novaspace, Planetek Italia, and Caribou, is the flagship support track of the Continental Innovation activity under the Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme (AESPP), a co-owned African-European initiative funded by the European Commission under the Global Gateway strategy.
Ten African Earth Observation (EO) downstream businesses will be selected for the first cohort. Each selected business will receive $23,190 (€20,000) in milestone-based funding, dedicated mentoring tailored to its stage of development, and direct connections to a pan-African and European network of investors and industry partners.
The programme will also include two in-person events bringing the cohort together with mentors, investors, and partners.
The call is open to African-registered businesses operating in the EO downstream sector and welcomes the full spectrum of applicants, from early-stage startups to growth-stage and established SMEs developing products, services, data analytics, or applications that use EO data to serve end users in agriculture and food security, climate resilience, water security, and energy and infrastructure. The application deadline is 31 May 2026 and interested businesses can apply here.
According to the African Space Agency, the business innovation programme recognises three tiers of applicants. Startups must be under three years in operation, pre-revenue or early revenue, at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4-6, with early users or pilots.
The growth-stage SMEs must be three to seven years in operation with a minimum annual revenue of $50,000, at TRL 6-7, and have paying customers. The established SMEs must be seven or more years in operation with a minimum annual revenue of $100,000, at TRL 7-9, and have an established customer base.
Regardless of tier, all applicants must be legally registered in a Sub-Saharan African Union Member State and operate in the EO downstream sector, meaning upstream businesses are not eligible.
The applicants must also be led by full-time founders with at least two full-time members on the founding team. At least one English-speaking team member must be able to engage in programme activities, and a key team member must commit to the full 12-month programme, including both in-person events. Applicants must also comply with EU restrictive measures and ITT eligibility requirements, and must not currently benefit from a conflicting funded innovation programme from ESA or the European Commission.
Beyond supporting individual businesses, the African Space Agency says the initiative is intended to strengthen Africa-Europe cooperation in the space sector and position African EO enterprises as drivers of solutions to the continent’s development priorities.
