{"id":5614,"date":"2026-03-14T02:57:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=5614"},"modified":"2026-03-14T06:06:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T06:06:56","slug":"mastercard-foundation-fund-for-alumni-start-ups-in-transition-fast-program-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/?p=5614","title":{"rendered":"Mastercard Foundation Fund for Alumni Start-ups in Transition (FAST) Program 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><div id=\"tdi_1\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_2  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_2,\r\n                .tdi_2 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_4  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n\n\/* custom css - generated by TagDiv Composer *\/\n.tdi_4{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\" >[vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"post-172993\">\n<div>\n<p><strong>Deadline: March 20, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applications are open for the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Alumni Start-ups in Transition (FAST) Program 2026. FAST supports and empowers the next generation of entrepreneurs by providing enterprise support and connecting participants to business development training and a supportive network of like-minded entrepreneurs and mentors.<\/p>\n<p>FAST is a partnership of the Mastercard Foundation with CCHub Nigeria, MDF Global, Concree, Scale up, Savannah Innovations Lab, the Center for Enterprising Organizations, Inkomoko, and the Africa Leadership Academy (ALA).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Participants will gain access to funding, business development training, and a supportive network of like-minded entrepreneurs and mentors.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Idea Phase: An average of USD $3,000 (up to $5,000) to help develop and refine initial ideas.<\/li>\n<li>Build Phase: An average of USD $12,500 (up to $15,000) to transform the ideas into viable business models.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>FAST is open to aspiring entrepreneurs or those in the early stages of their entrepreneurship journey. It offers a unique opportunity for Alumni from the following programs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)<\/li>\n<li>African Leadership Academy (ALA)<\/li>\n<li>Anzisha Prize<\/li>\n<li>Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note: Applicants who are nearing graduation can receive a provisional acceptance letter and, upon completing their studies, join the next cohort.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Application<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applicants must submit documentation in the application that confirms their Alumni status for one of the following programs: Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, African Leadership Academy, Anzisha Prize, or Young African Leaders Initiative.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alumni from the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program will need to provide a student ID from the institution they attended. This ID will be used to verify your Scholars Program Alumni status.<\/li>\n<li>Alumni from African Leadership Academy, Anzisha Prize, or Young African Leaders Initiative can use the English FAST verification letter or provide a different form of verification, such as a certificate of completion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/asu.co1.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_dhuR0OKBq5ooCN0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to apply<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mastercardfdn.org\/en\/what-we-do\/our-programs\/the-mastercard-foundation-fund-for-alumni-start-ups-in-transition-fast-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mastercard Foundation FAST Program<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_column_text css=\"\"] Deadline: March 20, 2026 Applications are open for the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Alumni Start-ups in Transition (FAST) Program 2026. FAST supports and empowers the next generation of entrepreneurs by providing enterprise support and connecting participants to business development training and a supportive network of like-minded entrepreneurs and mentors. FAST is a partnership [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow1K2_DA:productID":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fellowships"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5617,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614\/revisions\/5617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opportunityforworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}