Make AI Your Competitive Advantage
Join The
AI Readiness Accelerator
Only 10 startups will be selected!
Applications close on 24 October 2025
Supported by
Why the AI Readiness Accelerator?
Curated Investor Demo
End the program by pitching to a hand-picked group of investors who are actively aligned to your sector and stage
Backed by Industry Leaders
With Telkom and the UK–SA Tech Hub as partners, you gain credibility, exposure, and networks to accelerate your growth
Founder-Centric Design
Your time is respected. No endless generic workshops - just focused, high-value technical implementation that directly impacts your business. Fully implemented by the Disraptor team, allowing you to focus on your business
Embedded Engineering Teams
We don’t just advise - we build with and for you. Our engineers work as part of your team to build with intention. Your Data Automation and Cloud Infrastructure/DevOps is designed and implemented to help you land corporate deals and integrate into enterprise supply chains
Investor, Corporate, Customer Readiness
The accelerator culminates in a technical due diligence report, giving you the evidence you need to secure funding, close more clients, corporate deals and partnerships
Founder Wellness & Leadership
Scale brings pressure. That’s why the accelerator includes executive wellness coaching to help you lead with clarity and resilience
What's in the Accelerator?
6 Month Program
The accelerator is implemented over 6 months, with specific milestones for each phase
Bespoke Tech
Each startup gets an expert engineering team that augments your team and takes care of the heavy lifting
Fully-Funded
This is a fully-funded accelerator. Your startup only needs to commit time where necessary, and nothing else
Wellness Coaching
Get one-on-one wellness coaching to help you along your entrepreneurial journey during the course of this accelerator
Data Engineering and Cloud/DevOps
Strong focus on improving your cloud and data infrastructure so your startup can scale and intergate AI
Technical Due Diligence
Proof of investor and corporate supply chain readiness at the end of the program
Who should apply?
South African Business
Registered South African level 1 B-BBEE business
ICT Sector
Must operate in the ICT Sector as per B-BBEE Codes (Tech-enabled business from any industry e.g. FinTech, EdTech, or other data-intensive sectors)
Revenue
Annual turnover of R0 - R50 million (Pre-revenue considered for high-growth potential startups)
Team
Have atleast one technical team member to engage with Disraptor engineers on technical implementation e.g. CTO, Software Developer
Traction
Past the starting line – you’ve already launched your tech product/plaform, have traction, or are generating revenue, but are hitting scaling bottlenecks
Seeking Growth Opportunities (B2B, B2C, Corporate Deals and Partnerships)
You see opportunity to grow your business by improving your tech product, thus opening more B2C and B2B opportunities, or corporate deals and partnerships
Scaling Intent
You see corporate deals as a growth channel and are ready to meet corporate procurement standards
FAQs
No. This accelerator does not take any form of equity in your startup, should you be selected to participate. This is a fully-funded program sponsored by Telkom Future Makers and the UK South Africa Tech Hub
Not at all. The professional services provided in this accelerator by Disraptor are fully funded for each startup that participates
The accelerator runs across South Africa in a hybrid format – virtual technical support combined with 2 in-person events and corporate onboarding
We respect founder time. This accelerator will place expert engineers within your team to work on key activities, allowing you and your team to focus on your startup’s priorities. There will be regular check-ins, and requests for information from your technical team
Most accelerators focus on workshops and mentorship. The AI Readiness Accelerator is technical implementation focussed, embedding engineers into your team for six months, building the systems that make you investor and corporate supply chain ready. You are also provided with hands on support to land a corporate deal
Your startup’s technical infrastructure will be revamped to be AI-ready. This will include work on your data processes and cloud infrastructure. You will get expert engineering services, handover documentation, skills sharing, and valuable technical outputs
To enable more South African businesses to use AI in real-world applications that will help them scale, innovate, integrate into corporate supply chains, raise funding and grow internationally
Pre-seed to Series-A. We’re looking for post-revenue or high-traction early-stage startups that are hitting scaling bottlenecks and preparing to raise capital or integrate into corporate supply chains. Pre-revenue startups are considered if they have enough data that can lead to scale
We prioritise data-driven sectors such as FinTech, HealthTech, AgriTech, EdTech, and other industries where automation and analytics can drive rapid growth. Note, your startup has to have a tech product or tech platform
The program is designed for rapid scale. We support founders with wellness and performance coaching to ensure they can lead effectively through this rapid scale. 1:1 executive wellness coaching is provided as well as group workshops to help you cope with the pressures of scale and lead with resilience. This is the only workshop element of the accelerator
Yes. If you’ve already participated in another accelerator, you are still welcome to apply. In fact, we often find that startups coming out of other programs benefit most from our hands-on, technical execution model – because they’re ready to move from learning to building for scale