Frequently Asked Questions

KAMA provides hands-on support for founders and startups across four core pillars:

• Access to pilot environments: Access to partner enterprise environments, live testbeds, and relevant enterprise resources, with structured operational support to develop, test, and validate solutions.
• Expert support: Dedicated mentorship from industry leaders, technical counterparts, and domain specialists to refine solutions, strengthen business models, prepare for commercialisation, and build investment readiness.
• Market access: Direct opportunities to engage partner enterprises as potential customers, commercial partners, and distribution channels, plus access to relevant customer networks.
• Investor connections: Connections to potential sources of follow-on growth capital, including EIH and partner-enterprise corporate venture capital, angel investors, institutional venture capital firms, and the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) crowdfunding platform.

The KAMA core programme runs for approximately 6–8 months, from enterprise immersion through piloting to commercialisation. The core journey includes:

• 4 weeks: Enterprise immersion and solution co-creation
• 3 months: Operational pilot testing and validation in real enterprise environments
• 3 months: Commercialisation, scaling roadmap, and customer onboarding

Post-commercialisation support may continue for a further 3–12 months, based on the venture's needs.

Selected innovators will engage in-person with their partner enterprise counterparts during immersion and pilot testing. The specific location and schedule depend on the participating enterprise and programme stage. Applicants should be prepared to take part actively throughout the core programme.

In Track 1 – Enterprise Open Innovation, partner enterprises act as venture clients and innovation partners. They define operational challenges, work with innovators to co-create solutions, support pilots, and may adopt or procure successful solutions. Where relevant, they provide access to data, facilities, infrastructure, domain expertise, users, and live operating environments.

In Track 2 – National Innovation & Venture Building, partner enterprises contribute selectively, providing expertise, data, infrastructure, and market insights where appropriate.

You can reach the KAMA programme team at info@kama.et.

KAMA is open to Ethiopian founders, startups, and innovators developing innovative, technology-enabled, and scalable solutions. You do not need a registered company, a co-founder, or a finished product to apply. Individuals can apply, and you do not need to have a team.

You can apply with an idea, a prototype, an MVP, or a more developed solution, depending on the track. Applicants must be committed to taking part throughout the KAMA programme journey.

Registered startups should generally meet the applicable startup designation criteria under Startup Proclamation No. 1396/2025, including the five-year establishment requirement.

No. You do not need to have a registered company to apply. KAMA welcomes innovators at different stages, provided they have a relevant solution and meet the requirements of the track they choose. Selected teams without a registered legal entity will be supported through the registration process prior to pilot deployment.

Yes. KAMA is open to ventures at every stage, from early ideas and prototypes to validated, growth-stage, and scaling ventures. Support is tailored to each venture's stage and needs.

Early-stage ventures are supported to refine and validate their solutions. More mature startups may focus on enterprise adoption, commercialisation, market expansion, partnerships, or investment readiness.

Later-stage startups do not need to restart their journey: their existing traction, product maturity, customers, and capabilities are taken into account, allowing them to focus on accelerating their next stage of growth.

Track 1 – Enterprise Open Innovation is challenge-led. Participating state-owned enterprises publish specific operational challenges, and startups apply with solutions that directly address them. Startups can also propose open ideas that add value to a participating enterprise beyond a published challenge. Selected startups work directly with enterprise sponsors to co-create, develop, test, and validate solutions in real enterprise environments, creating pathways to commercial procurement.

Track 2 – National Innovation & Venture Building is solution-led. Startups bring their own innovative solutions addressing national economic priorities, broader market needs, emerging opportunities, and future growth areas in any sector — including solutions relevant to enterprises outside the current cohort. Places on Track 2 are limited, and solutions are primarily validated through open-market opportunities.

Each applicant or team may submit one application only per cohort, and the psychometric assessment is mandatory for both tracks.

The psychometric assessment is a standardized 25-question online evaluation designed to understand your reasoning, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial mindset. It takes approximately 45 minutes and must be completed in one sitting. No prior preparation or memorization is required. Attempting to switch browser tabs or windows will be logged for integrity monitoring.

Applications undergo a rigorous, double-blind evaluation by the KAMA Selection Committee, comprising independent technical experts and enterprise operational leads. Evaluators score submissions using standardized rubrics without seeing applicant personal information (names, emails, phones, CVs) to prevent unconscious bias. Applications with a score spread greater than 3.0 points are automatically flagged for committee review and consensus.

All application responses, venture blueprints, pitch decks, and assessments must be submitted in English. Amharic language support and bilingual submission options are currently in preparation for future cohorts.

Yes. Innovators not selected for Cohort 1 are welcome and encouraged to apply again in future KAMA cohorts as their solutions evolve and new enterprise challenges are published.

No. There is no fee to apply or to take part. KAMA provides programme support, enterprise collaboration, mentorship and other resources at no cost to participants.

No. KAMA does not take equity from startups for taking part in the programme. KAMA does, however, connect startups with potential sources of growth capital, including EIH and partner-enterprise corporate venture capital, angel investors, venture capital firms and the ESX crowdfunding platform.

After a successful pilot, you and the enterprise will jointly decide whether to continue working together and agree the terms of any future engagement. A successful pilot does not automatically lead to a commercial agreement or contract.

Participating founders and startups retain 100% ownership of their pre-existing and newly created intellectual property. Any specific joint developments with partner enterprises are governed by mutually agreed co-creation frameworks established before pilot commencement.

All application materials and proposals submitted through the KAMA portal are protected under strict confidentiality protocols. Evaluators and enterprise representatives are bound by formal non-disclosure agreements, and evaluators undergo blind reviews without seeing applicant contact details.