FAQ

Yes, all participants will be provided with return tickets to Morocco as well as free accommodation for the whole duration of the program at the campus of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Benguerir, Morocco.

IMPULSE does not take equity participations in the startups it accelerates.

The program is open to all aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs from all over the world. However, preference will be given to startups that are beyond the idea stage. The program will be targeting startups that have a proof of concept “POC” or a minimum viable product “MVP” in the fields of Agritech, Biotech, Mining tech and Materials Science & Nano Engineering.

The program is open to entrepreneurs from all over the world. If you are accepted, you may need a visa to stay in Morocco, depending on the visa requirements towards your country of origin. OCP Group and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University will help successful companies obtain visas for the duration of the program.

The IMPULSE Demo Day will take place on April 8th 2020. We will invite key people from our network of national and international venture capital firms, angel investors and industry partners to attend.

Once you have applied to the program, the IMPULSE team will review your application. If an initial fit exists between your startup and the program, we will contact you to arrange a follow-up via phone call or video conference. Only 10 startups will be retained for the acceleration program, which will start on January, 15th 2020.

Throughout the program, our team will help you connect with a number of financing opportunities via our network of national and international venture capital firms and angel investors. The Demo Day is also a great opportunity to pitch potential investors who might take a stake in your company.

Our program targets startups offering innovative solutions to improve the productivity of the agriculture sector in a sustainable way. Precision agriculture and predictive data analysis through data management platforms, robotics & drones, futures markets, analysis tools for agricultural and agro-industrial markets, operational management. All this examples of themes targeted by our program.

We are interested in startups offering innovative and frugal solutions to improve the productivity of smallholder farmers in the developing world. Agricultural technologies that could be used in arid and semi-arid environments are also targets of the program. Just as the solutions delivering collective intelligence, trust, transparency and upstream-downstream traceability of the agri-food value chain.

Our program targets startups offering innovative solutions to the challenges faced by Mining companies throughout the Mining development cycle, namely :

• Exploration and feasibility studies
• Planning and construction
• Operations
• Closure and restoration

Our program targets startups offering innovative solutions in the following areas:

• Phosphate by-products
• Battery materials
• Polymers and composites
• Surface treatments

Our program targets innovative startups operating in the following areas :

- Physiology and genetic improvement of plant cultures: Understanding the physiological mechanisms of plants subjected to unfavorable environmental constraints (nutritional deficiency, drought, high temperatures, salinity ...).

- Bio-processes:

• Development of innovative bio-processes to valorize waste and co-products of the industry for the production of biofertilizers.
• Bioenergy.
• Wastewater treatment.

- Soil microbiology: biostimulants, biofertilizers and biopesticides.

MassChallenge has partnered with the Impulse Accelerator Program to help entrepreneurs develop and implement breakthrough ideas, technologies and discoveries in Africa and for Africa.

Through the Bridge to MassChallenge Morocco, entrepreneurs selected for the Impulse acceleration program will have access to MassChallenge mentors and will participate to two study trips to the ecosystems of Boston and Lausanne.