Injini AI for Education Venture Builder & Incubation Program 2026

Injini's AI for Education Venture Builder and Incubation Program is an eight-month initiative supported by Coefficient Giving. It helps pre-formed teams turn early AI-for-education concepts into market-ready EdTech ventures designed for African classrooms. Twelve teams will join a five-month Venture Build phase from November 2026 to March 2027. The programme covers problem validation, technical design, development of a functional AI-powered minimum viable product, and user testing with learners and educators. The top five teams then advance to a three-month incubation phase from April to June 2027, focused on further product refinement, impact measurement, go-to-market planning, financial viability and investment readiness. Support includes hands-on guidance from AI engineers, learning scientists, business strategists and education specialists; dedicated user testing; monitoring, evaluation and learning support; branding and messaging guidance; and advice on business sustainability. The top five ventures progressing to incubation receive US$25,000 each in equity-free seed capital. The programme is delivered mostly online. Selected teams must attend mandatory in-person engagements in Johannesburg, including a one-week onboarding bootcamp in early November 2026. Travel and accommodation are covered for up to three members per team. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and close at midnight on 27 September 2026. The organiser does not state the deadline timezone, so applicants should submit early. Successful applicants are expected to be announced in October 2026.

Applicants must apply as a complete team of at least two people. The team should combine relevant capabilities such as a builder, an education or subject-matter expert, and a commercial or operations lead. Each team member must have two to three years of relevant professional or lived experience. The team must be at the ideation stage, with a clear and well-evidenced concept aligned with one of the programme themes. The programme is seeking ideas that still need to be built and tested, not products or organisations that have already launched commercially. Teams must be based in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia or Zimbabwe. The proposed solution must be built by African founders for African classroom and education realities, with AI playing a meaningful role in the product or its underlying technology. At least one team member must be able to attend the mandatory in-person engagements in Johannesburg. Teams must also be available for the virtual programme activities and the required user-testing and venture-development work.