Deadline:31St August, 2026.
Based at the Accra AI Community Centre (AICC) in Ghana, the Google Africa Applied AI Lab supports founders from across the continent interested in using the latest AI research to address real-world, uniquely African challenges – and, in turn, build Africa’s first generation of AI-native unicorn startups. The initiative serves as a zero-to-one commercialization platform, bridging the gap between world-class foundational research and market-ready products. It pairs an elite cohort of African founders and researchers directly with Google experts, jointly building AI solutions. The program will culminate in a demo day, where startups will present their work from their time in the program to Googlers, top investors, and partners, where they will have the opportunity to receive potential funding and further support.
The Google Africa Applied AI Lab focuses on joint development of AI products and services meant to address critical gaps and challenges across the continent. Rapid prototyping will occur across five distinct technological futures, all of which will reshape Africa in the coming years: the future of work, knowledge, software development, creativity, and entertainment.- Early access to select AI models
Get early access to some of our most advanced AI models from Google DeepMind like Gemini, Veo and Imagen to unlock new AI-powered features for your users.
- Google expertise
Collaborate with researchers, designers, engineers and marketers from across Google DeepMind and Google Labs.
- Equity funding
Fuel growth and scale AI development with the opportunity to seek direct investment from Google, when you’re ready.
- Cloud credits and support
Build, train, and scale your AI-powered products with Google Cloud credits and dedicated technical support from our Cloud experts.*
Eligibility
- The program is looking for current full-time founders and/or top researchers who are looking to become startup founders.
- The program is seeking applicants with big ideas that drive impact in Africa across the thematic areas: the future of work, knowledge, software development, creativity, and entertainment.
- While preference is given to startups with funding and commercial traction (pre-seed to series A), the program consider all founders and researchers with great ideas and a strong plan for how to build them.
For more information and application.