Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
South African EdTech accelerator Injini has launched an eight-month AI for Education Venture Builder and Incubation Programme, supported by Coefficient Giving, to help local teams build AI-powered education solutions for African classrooms.
The program will support 12 teams in creating affordable EdTech solutions for learners and educators in Southern Africa, guiding them through stages from idea development to early market testing.
It will emphasise building AI tools that tackle real educational challenges in Africa. Injini will provide teams with expert support and access to users for testing their products.
At the end of the program, five top teams will be chosen for further support and receive seed funding to continue developing their products.
The programme aims to support homegrown talent in developing education technologies suited to local needs rather than simply adapting solutions built for other markets.
Participants will receive hands-on support from AI engineers, learning scientists, business strategists and education-sector specialists. The programme will cover product development, technical design, user testing, financial viability and go-to-market strategy.
Injini will also provide Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) support to help teams measure educational outcomes and understand how effectively their products work with real users.
The eight-month initiative will run in three stages:
Selection and onboarding: Injini will select 12 teams from nine eligible Southern African countries and begin with an in-person orientation bootcamp in Johannesburg, South Africa, between September and October 2026.
Venture building: From November 2026 through March 2027, all 12 teams will work through problem validation, technical design, development of functional AI-powered MVPs and user testing.
Incubation: From April to June 2027, the five selected ventures will receive additional support to refine their products, conduct further testing, measure impact and strengthen their businesses.
The programme is open to pre-formed teams of at least two people based in eligible Southern African countries. Teams should collectively include a builder, a domain expert or context lead, and a commercial or operations lead.
Applicants must have 2–3 years of relevant work or lived experience and be at the ideation stage with a concept aligned with the programme’s focus areas.
The programme is open to applicants from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Applications close at midnight on September 27, 2026, although Injini is reviewing applications on a rolling basis. Successful applicants are expected to be announced on October 21.
Participating teams will receive support in:
- AI and product development
- Early product validation and user testing
- Access to learners and educators for testing
- Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
- Branding and messaging
- Go-to-market strategy
- Financial viability and business development
- Equity-free seed funding for the top five ventures
The programme is aimed at builders, education-sector experts and commercial leaders looking to use AI to solve practical problems in African education.
