About ASAP
A programme built on belief — and built to last.
ASAP is a 10-year initiative by ACE Investment and Impact Advisors to transform how women-led Ethiopian SMEs access the support they need to scale.
Mission
Accelerating women-led SMEs to their full potential.
ASAP's mission is to close the structural gap in Ethiopia's SME support ecosystem by providing growth-stage women-led businesses with the tools, networks, and capital access they need to scale sustainably.
Vision
East Africa's leading women's SME accelerator by 2034.
By the end of the programme's 10-year horizon, ASAP will have accelerated 225+ women-led SMEs, mobilised hundreds of millions of birr in growth capital, and built a self-sustaining alumni ecosystem that continues to mentor and invest in the next generation.
Our Story
How ASAP came to be.
Ethiopia has more than 500,000 women-owned micro and small enterprises. Yet when the ACE Advisors team looked at the country's accelerator landscape, a stark reality emerged: fewer than 3% of structured business support programmes were designed with women-led, growth-stage businesses in mind. The gap wasn't a lack of ambition among founders — it was a lack of infrastructure built for them.
ACE Investment and Impact Advisors — a women-owned, women-led firm with deep roots in development finance and SME advisory — is launching ASAP as a direct response to this gap. The founding insight was simple: growth-stage women founders don't need to be taught how to have ideas. They need structured curriculum, expert mentorship, a peer community, access to working space, and a clear pathway to the investors and lenders who are ready to back them.
The 10-year programme horizon reflects something important: real ecosystem change doesn't happen in a single cohort cycle. ASAP is designed to grow with its alumni, to build a compounding network of mentors who were once participants, and to become a self-sustaining force in Ethiopia's entrepreneurial landscape — not a donor-funded project that disappears when the funding cycle ends.
10-Year Roadmap
A long game, played in three deliberate phases.
ASAP was designed for durability — not just the first cohort.
Preparation Phase
- Programme design & curriculum development
- Case team recruitment & training
- Partner & financial institution outreach
- ACE CoLab space preparation
- M&E framework design
Initiation Phase
- Launch of inaugural cohort (20–25 SMEs)
- First 14-module training cycle delivered
- Mentorship network activated
- Demo Day: first investor presentations
- M&E baseline data collected
Maturity Phase
- 2 cohorts per year (40–50 SMEs/yr)
- 225+ total SMEs accelerated
- Alumni mentoring next cohorts
- Self-sustaining equity + alumni model
- East Africa's leading women's SME accelerator
Our Difference
Why ASAP is not like other accelerators.
Most accelerators in Ethiopia target early-stage SMEs with generic curricula. ASAP is different by design.
Growth-stage focus
ASAP is built for businesses that are already generating revenue and have a team — not for ideas or pre-revenue SMEs. We go deeper, not wider.
Women-only programme
Every element — from the cohort composition to the mentors we recruit and the networks we open — is designed with the specific experience of women founders in mind.
Ethiopia-specific curriculum
Our 14 modules are grounded in Ethiopian commercial law, the local banking landscape, sector dynamics, and the networks that actually matter in Addis Ababa and beyond.
Sustainable model
Unlike grant-funded programmes that disappear after a cycle, ASAP's minor equity stake model aligns our success with yours — and keeps us committed for the long term.
Our Parent Organisation
About ACE Investment and Impact Advisors
ACE Investment and Impact Advisors is a women-owned, women-led advisory firm based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ACE specialises in development finance advisory, SME capacity building, and impact investment structuring across East Africa.
ASAP is one of three ACE-led initiatives designed to support Ethiopia's entrepreneurial ecosystem — alongside ACE CoLab (coworking and community) and EmpowerHER (quarterly leadership panels). Together, they form a mutually reinforcing platform that surrounds women founders with infrastructure, inspiration, and opportunity.
Learn more about ACE AdvisorsReady to apply?
Applications for the inaugural cohort are now open.