Halcyon is a Washington, DC accelerator co-founded in 2014 by Dr. Sachiko Kuno and Kate Goodall. It backs for-profit founders whose impact is built into the business model, across three verticals: Climate, Health and EquityTech.
The Climate Resilience & Food Security in Africa Accelerator is its Africa-based climate cohort. It takes ventures working on climate adaptation, resilience and food systems, in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy systems, adaptive infrastructure, climate intelligence, water security, the blue economy and coastal resilience.
The format is hybrid and the cohort is small: up to 10 ventures, a virtual kickoff, a week-long residency in Accra, four virtual programming days, and a closing week-long residency in Nairobi. The 2026 edition ran from March to July 2026. Halcyon ran the same Africa program in 2025 in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, selecting 10 African founders that year.
Benefits & funding
- A US$6,000 equity-free stipend per venture, paid at several points including before the residencies and once the program concludes.
- US$10,000 in Amazon Web Services credits per venture.
- Two week-long in-person residencies — Accra, Ghana in April and Nairobi, Kenya in July — plus a virtual kickoff day and four virtual programming days.
- A cohort of up to 10 ventures.
- Expert workshops on product-market fit, capital strategy and leadership.
- Professional advisors and investor networking through Halcyon’s expert network.
- Access to Halcyon’s global community of more than 600 founders.
- Halcyon takes no equity.
Eligibility
- The venture must be located in Africa.
- For-profit and impact-driven, with impact as a non-negotiable part of the business model and contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- A working Minimum Viable Product with realistic potential to scale, plus early user feedback or early commercial validation such as pilots, letters of intent or revenue.
- The applicant must be the CEO or hold primary decision-making power, and may apply with up to one co-founder.
- At least 21 years old by the start of the program.
- Fluent in English, since programming is delivered in English.
- Full participation in every residency and program activity, with founders working full-time on the venture.
- The work must sit in climate adaptation and resilience or food security. Halcyon states that mitigation-only solutions are outside its current climate scope, unless mitigation comes as a secondary benefit of adaptation and resilience work.
- No degree requirement and no nationality requirement — the geographic gate is where the venture is based, not the founder’s passport.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Residence required
Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · DR Congo
+ 42 more
Republic of the Congo · Côte d'Ivoire · Djibouti · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · South Sudan · Sudan · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Age requirement
≥ 21 yrs
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Application process
- 1Submit Halcyon’s year-round eligibility survey, a short form reviewed on a rolling basis. One submission covers every Halcyon program.
- 2Wait for this program’s call window. For the 2026 cohort, applications ran from 31 October to 20 November 2025.
- 3Complete the invitational second-round application when Halcyon invites you, which carries a roughly two-week deadline.
- 4Halcyon scores the second-round applications and shortlists finalists.
- 5Finalists pitch a Selections Committee, which picks the cohort of up to 10 ventures.
- 6Selected founders are notified — for the 2026 cohort, in mid-to-late January 2026 — and join the virtual program kickoff.
Program timeline
applications open for the 2026 cohort
Oct 31, 2025
applications close
Nov 20, 2025
finalists notified
Mid-to-late January 2026
virtual program kickoff
Mar 25, 2026
residency week one, Accra, Ghana
Apr 17, 2026 to Apr 24, 2026
virtual programming days
May 5, 2026, May 20, 2026, Jun 10, 2026, Jul 9, 2026
residency week two, Nairobi, Kenya
Jul 24, 2026 to Jul 31, 2026
Next cycle
not yet published; the 2026 call opened at the end of October 2025