Accelerator

timbuktoo Launchpad for HealthTech Startups

United Nations Development Programme (timbuktoo HealthTech Hub, Rwanda)

Applications are taken as they come. They say: "Applications are open on a rolling basis, with startups admitted through..." No fee to apply Last checked 2 Oct

At a glance

Deadline: Applications are taken as they come. They say: "Applications are open on a rolling basis, with startups admitted through..."
Fee: No fee to apply
Who may apply: running an early-stage startup
a working prototype or MVP and a committed founding team
Where: Pan-African, matched to an incubator in your country or supported virtually; hub in Kigali, Rwanda

A pan-African incubation place for a health technology startup with a prototype or MVP, run by UNDP's timbuktoo HealthTech Hub in Kigali through accredited incubators. It gives up to 12 months of incubation, mentors and investment-readiness support, not a cash grant. Applications now go to the December 2026 cohort onward.

Applications are taken as they come. They say: “Applications are open on a rolling basis, with startups admitted through quarterly cohorts.” Read it on their page

The facts

What you get: No grant or stipend; incubation, mentors, network and investment-readiness support. Travel to in-person events is not automatically covered
Where: Pan-African, matched to an incubator in your country or supported virtually; hub in Kigali, Rwanda
How long: Up to 12 months, starting with a 3 month core curriculum; quarterly cohorts

Where you stand

This one is free. There is no fee to apply, and nobody should ask you for money at any point.

What they ask for

running an early-stage startup
a working prototype or MVP and a committed founding team
your startup is based in Africa or builds for African healthcare markets, addressing a clear healthcare challenge

Get ready to apply

Built only from what this listing states.

The application takes real work, by our reading.

1. What to get ready

An online form; it names no documents. Some forms do not save as you go, so set aside time to do it in one sitting.

In their words: “Application on the platform linked from the UNDP page”

2. Dates

No closing date is stated.
Openings with no closing date can close once they have enough people, so sooner is safer. Our advice
On the date, the listing says: Rolling; Cohort 1 closed, applications now considered for Cohort 2 (December 2026) onward

Download checklist (.txt) Send to WhatsApp

The download is a small text file. You can read it later without data. It also lists each condition they set, so you can tick yourself against them. WhatsApp sends the same list to you, or to somebody helping you.

No CV yet? Make a plain one from your answers. Nothing you type is kept.

Tips for applying for an accelerator

General advice from us, the same for every accelerator. It is not what this organisation says; that is above.

Check whether they take a share of your business, and how much. It is shown under the facts when the listing says.
Show traction: customers, sales, users, growth, even small.
Say plainly what problem you solve, for whom, and why your team.

If there is an interview or a test

Practise a two minute pitch and a longer five minute one.
Expect hard questions about your market and competitors. It is normal.

All our tips and messages to copy. Practise answering, with nothing kept. Received an offer? Check whether it is real, then read before you say yes.

How to apply

You apply on United Nations Development Programme (timbuktoo HealthTech Hub, Rwanda)'s own website, not here. We never send an application for anybody and we never ask you for anything to pass on. Check their page for anything not shown here.

Go to the application

How we checked this

This was opened and verified at United Nations Development Programme (timbuktoo HealthTech Hub, Rwanda)'s own website on 2 October 2026: it was real, still open, and open to people from African countries. If anything here is wrong, tell us.