Resilience17, a venture fund and studio founded by Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga "GB" Agboola, has launched Go Time AI, a new accelerator program aimed at supporting African startups working on artificial intelligence products. The program, which launched its first cohort in 2024, provides participating startups with financial support, technical resources, and guidance from industry experts in exchange for 8% equity ownership.

The Go Time AI accelerator is designed to bridge the gap in access to capital, infrastructure, and technical expertise that African founders often face when building and scaling AI products. The program offers up to $200,000 in funding, starting with an initial $25,000 and followed by up to $175,000 in subsequent rounds. In addition to funding, participating startups receive access to cloud computing credits and API services to help build, test, and scale their AI products.

Hasan Luongo, General Partner of Resilience17, expressed his conviction that Nigeria is poised to lead as a global technology hub, particularly in AI. "Despite challenges acutely highlighted in 2024, Nigeria is poised to continue leading as a global technology hub and can lead in AI. We launched Go Time AI to prove this thesis. After the last 4 months working closely with the 1st cohort of AI companies, that conviction has only become stronger," Luongo said.

The launch of Go Time AI comes at a time when African founders are working to carve out their place in the AI industry. The accelerator joins other initiatives, such as Accelerate Africa and JADA, which aim to support African startups and provide access to AI talent on the continent.

The first cohort of Go Time AI admitted five startups, which presented their pitches at a demo day in January 2025. The selected startups include Catlog, an AI-bot that helps businesses sell and manage customer inquiries; Sahel AI, an AI-powered contract review and drafting tool for law firms and in-house legal teams; Tyms, an AI-powered accounting software for small businesses; AI Teacha, an AI-powered tool that helps teachers with lesson planning and learning material development; and FriendNPal, a 24/7 mental health AI companion and live therapy platform.

The accelerator program begins with a kickoff week in Lagos, followed by a four-month program designed to provide founders with hands-on learning and mentorship. Every two weeks, participants gather for in-person Demo Nights, where they showcase progress and receive feedback from investors, mentors, and peers. The program also includes Office Hours, where founders engage in deep-dive discussions on critical aspects of their startups, covering technical development, product strategy, and go-to-market tactics.

In the first cohort, founders learned from experts like Wiza Jalakasi from EBanx, Olusola (Olu) Amusan, Co-founder and CEO at Vesti, Samee Zahid of Chippercash, Yewande Akomolafe-Kalu of Flutterwave, and many others. Luongo added that the goal of the accelerator is not to teach founders how to run a company but to specifically narrow the focus on what Resilience17 sees as the most important things any early-stage company should be focused on – building a world-class product experience and getting users into the product and to the magic moment where they see clear value.

Applications for the second cohort of Go Time AI will open in May 2025. With its strong start, the accelerator is poised to make a significant impact on the African AI ecosystem, providing a much-needed platform for founders to build and scale competitive AI products.