Startup Africa: East Africa’s Startup Accelerator Ecosystem – An Overview

The Accelerator Conundrumis a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

East Africa’s startup ecosystem is a hotbed of innovation, driven by a young, ambitious population and a legacy of technological breakthroughs like M-Pesa. Countries like Kenya, with hubs like Nairobi, lead the charge, attracting a disproportionate share of funding and spawning a growing number of unicorns. However, as I’ve articulated in my The Accelerator Conundrum blog series, this progress often masks a fundamental flaw: the widespread adoption of a traditional 3-month, cohort-based accelerator model that is ill-suited to the realities of the region.

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Building a Venture Scale FinTech SaaS Startup: Mike Whitmire, co-founder and CEO of FloQast (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: And how long did that $6.5 million last?

Mike Whitmire: We did extremely well in 2016 and the first half of 2017. We more than tripled our recurring revenue. Then we were approached proactively about raising another round. The investor was great, the terms were strong, and I was ready to scale further. We fielded a few term sheets, found the right partner, and raised our Series B—$25 million led by Insight.

An Overview of Startup Accelerators in Delhi NCR: Why 1Mby1M Leads the Way

By Guest Authors Snigdha Sahoo and Kaushank Khandwala

The Accelerator Conundrumis a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

Across ten posts, we analyzed Delhi NCR’s accelerator ecosystem with a straightforward lens: no noise, no hype—just insights. Building on Sramana Mitra’s The Accelerator Conundrum, we compared how local and national programs stack up in serving founders across critical dimensions.

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An Overview of Startup Accelerators in Mumbai: Why 1Mby1M Leads the Way

By Guest Author Kaushank Khandwala

The Accelerator Conundrumis a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

In a recent series of ten posts, we explored Mumbai’s startup accelerator landscape, analyzing which programs truly serve founders without noise or hype. Drawing from insights in Sramana Mitra’s The Accelerator Conundrum series, we examined accelerators across key dimensions: virtual access, equity-free participation, support for solo founders, part-time entrepreneurship, long-term mentorship, investor introductions, revenue-first growth, sustainable scaling, unicorn creation, and validation frameworks.

Startup Africa: Namibia’s Startup Accelerator Ecosystem – A Deep Dive

The Accelerator Conundrum is a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

Namibia’s startup ecosystem is in its nascent stage, with a handful of key players and a lot of untapped potential. While the country’s stability and entrepreneurial drive are commendable, its small population and limited access to capital and mentorship make a traditional, on-the-ground accelerator model a poor fit. As I’ve argued in my The Accelerator Conundrum blog series, the fundamental flaws of these programs are magnified in developing ecosystems like Namibia’s.

Startup Africa: South Africa’s Startup Accelerator Ecosystem – A Deep Dive

The Accelerator Conundrum is a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

South Africa, with its vibrant economy and mature tech sector, is often seen as the gateway to Africa. Its startup ecosystem, arguably the most developed on the continent, has a strong network of incubators and accelerators. But as I’ve articulated in my The Accelerator Conundrum blog series, a bustling ecosystem doesn’t guarantee a healthy one. The majority of these local programs, from Grindstone to Plug and Play South Africa, are built on a flawed premise that is actively holding back the country’s full potential.

Startup Africa: Southern Africa’s Startup Accelerator Ecosystem – An Overview

The Accelerator Conundrumis a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

I’ve spent years dissecting the startup ecosystem, and my The Accelerator Conundrum blog series goes deep into why the traditional, cohort-based, equity-taking accelerator model is fundamentally flawed. In Southern Africa, a region with a burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit but an often-nascent support infrastructure, this conundrum is particularly acute. While countries like South Africa have a more mature ecosystem, many others in the region are still in the early stages, making the choice of a support system even more critical.

Building a Venture Scale FinTech SaaS Startup: Mike Whitmire, co-founder and CEO of FloQast (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: So, when you started going after companies that looked like Cornerstone, were you doing that as a bootstrap company or a venture-funded company?

Mike Whitmire: We had taken a small seed round of funding. We raised $1.3 million at the time to build out the first iteration of the product and prove we could go to market. We were working with a small budget because I wasn’t in a position to burn a lot of cash. I had to be very prudent with the funds we had.