The African startup accelerator, MBM Africa, has chosen RebelBase as the primary platform to power its curriculum, connect founders, entrepreneurs and other mentors, and host events such as demo days.
MBM Africa’s mission is to empower, encourage and train African founders so they can cultivate and pursue their own business ventures. As the software as a service—or SaaS—platform to jump-start any innovation, RebelBase will provide the MBM entrepreneurs with tools to strengthen an array of businesses components and the ability to connect their ecosystems. The latter will allow MBM entrepreneurs to get feedback on their projects from mentors to peer support and more.
Eunice Nyandat, MBM Africa’s founder, is excited about how the structure of the RebelBase platform will help African entrepreneurs move quickly from business idea to business model. “We are definitely going to change the space for African founders. This collaboration will make a big difference,” she said. “It will be game-changing for African founders.”
With RebelBase, founders can get feedback on projects within different regions and in varying languages, meet other mentors, and grow their businesses more organically, Mark Zimmerman, head of strategy and business development at RebelBase, explained. “We are thrilled that this accelerator is launching, and that RebelBase can help power many startups within Africa and beyond.”
In December, team members from MBM Africa were trained in the RebelBase platform and its functionality, and MBM Africa will soon do a soft launch, working with roughly 300 founders to begin with in the RebelBase software and building from there.
Nyandat said the RebelBase platform will enhance efforts for all of its business clients across the board. “The focus of our work is not just founders on the African continent. It’s the African diaspora,” she said. “RebelBase will help us establish a flexible accelerator solution for the African world.”
Working within the RebelBase platform—rather than in a typical accelerator program—will allow African entrepreneurs who are unfamiliar with other languages and cultures to feel empowered to ask questions and engage with peers; a feature core to what RebelBase offers.
“If they are shy about asking questions, they will be far more open in an environment where they have peers among them and peers who understand them, and they can engage,” said Nyandat, an active entrepreneur herself who co-founded a lifestyle management company in Atlanta, Georgia, and a digital marketing, advertising and analytics firm for tech start-ups.
The relationship here is more of a partnership between a platform attempting to democratize innovation and an accelerator expanding access to entrepreneurship. Zimmerman said one of the core principles of RebelBase is that the organization provides clients with ample tools and frequently assesses and analyzes client data to improve results. “The resulting analytics divulge what is working best and what new directions may further advancement,” he said. “MBM Africa and RebelBase will work together to establish reasonable goals, to identify the means to compile the required data, and a schedule for periodic reporting and sharing of findings. We have a goal of remaining aligned as partners, staying in sync, ensuring progress and seeking new ventures to explore.”
MBM Africa’s business plan calls for it to launch an academy and a service called MBM Skills in the future, as well as boot camps, product design services and software development services though a combination of subscription and per-project options.
Both RebelBase and MBM Africa are newly emerging organizations, well aligned in terms of diversity and commitment, and their leaders are excited to collaborate. “We’re both start-ups. We’re growing each other,” said Nyandat. “MBM Africa and RebelBase are on the same page when it comes to the education of founders. We are supporting founders around the world. This is something that African founders can benefit from.”
