A 9-month investment readiness accelerator programme to support growing ventures that are using digital and tech innovations for positive environmental impact.
Submit the first-round application by
February 21, 2025
About DGIx Cambodia
The Digital & Green Innovation Accelerator (DGIx) Cambodia is a 9-month structured program for ventures using digital or tech-enabled solutions to address environmental challenges. The program will work with 5 to 8 mission-driven ventures that are looking to scale up and secure investment in the near future.
The core focus of the accelerator is helping you become ready to secure and absorb significant new capital (investment or other financing). This isn’t a surface-level program to polish a pitch deck. This is a rigorous, tailored program that will help you work on the core parts of your business that need some help — because you haven’t had the time, team capacity, skills and knowledge, accountability, or roadmap needed to truly become “investment-ready.”
Our Approach
We know running a business is demanding and your time is very precious. Our goal here isn’t to disrupt your day-to-day work, but to give you the support you need to step back, and actively work on growing your venture, not just work in it.
By the end of the program, you can expect to improve yourself, your team, your supporting documents, and your growth opportunities, as well as gain a clearer path to financing — whether through debt, equity, or a combination of both. You will have the chance to leverage the program’s resources to focus entirely on YOUR business growth opportunities and lead that growth with greater confidence. This will be supported by real-time feedback, mentorship, guidance from outside experts, and curated exposure to investors and bankers.
Our mission? To offer you the structure, guidance, tools, networks, and accountability you need to achieve your vision of success. This will be a joint effort between you and us. Together we will develop a few concrete deliverables, including:
- Business assessment
- Business scaling feasibility checklist
- Business scaling roadmap or plan
- Business scaling financial model
- Environmental impact summary
- Executive summary
What You'll Gain
1-on-1 Mentorship
We’re not just talking about one-off advice. Your mentor will dive deep into your business and help you see your blind spots in addition to helping you complete the deliverables for the program. They will help you set concrete growth milestones and stay accountable. And of course, they’ll help you tackle your most critical areas of business strengthening — from financial forecasting, operational efficiency, team restructuring, and more — because we know you can’t do it all alone.
Expert Consultancy Support
You’ll have access to skilled consultants from professional firms to directly help you solve the specific challenges holding your business back. Whether it’s finance, legal, branding, or niche areas like export strategy or climate finance, we’ll ensure you have the right expertise to unblock you.
Core Team Capacity Building
The strength of your team directly affects your business’s growth potential. Your team is more than just the CEO. That’s why the accelerator will also focus on building the skills of your core management and mid-level teams, offering tailored support in key areas like marketing, sales, and HR through formal training and some individual coaching. We want to ensure your team is better equipped to handle day-to-day operations, freeing up the CEO to focus on bigger strategic goals, as this is something outside investors often seek.
Unlocking Investment Potential
We’ll help you understand what different types of investors are looking for — what they really care about, the documents you need, the questions they’ll ask and the parts of your business they’ll probe about. While we can’t guarantee investment, we’ll make sure we’ll ensure you’re well-prepared to engage with potential investors by providing opportunities to practice, receive feedback, and access relevant materials in a structured and supportive environment. And when we see a good fit between your business and the investors in our network, we’ll help facilitate introductions and next steps.
Grant Funding
Midway through the program, you can receive up to US$10,000 in grant funding to strategically invest in scaling your solution and advancing your business to the next level (pending ongoing commitment to the program and achievements of milestones).
Ecosystem Exposure & Connections
You’ll gain visibility and new contacts through activities such as program-sponsored participation in leading regional innovation events, a professionally produced video, and curated events to showcase your venture to investors, media, and key partners.
You're a great fit for this program if…
You have a digital solution or innovation that addresses a significant environmental or climate challenge in Cambodia. This could include innovations in cleantech, agri-tech, sustainable supply chains, waste management, circular economy, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, remote sensing, and water and sanitation. Learn more about what we mean by “digital green” innovations here.
You have a track record of successful operations, including a defined business model, ongoing activities, products/services, stable customers, and revenue (profitability not required, but a viable pathway to profitability is).
Your business is legally registered in Cambodia or planning to register within 6 months.
You have a core team of at least 4 full-time staff in Cambodia. (The program will follow a hybrid format, combining online and in-person activities. You can be located anywhere in Cambodia.)
You have a growth opportunity and strong commitment to scaling the business and securing additional capital. You are willing and able to dedicate a few hours a week to building out your growth plan, preparing financial and impact documents required to approach an investor, and working with program mentors and consultants on key areas of business strengthening.
You are not currently enrolled in another business support program with similar objectives.
At least one member of your management/leadership team is fluent in English (most program activities for management-level will be conducted in English; most program activities for mid-level staff will be conducted in Khmer).
Anticipated Timeline
Full application Deadline
02 March 2025
On a rolling basis, all applications due
Finalist interviews and due diligence
Early to Mid-March 2025
Selection Process
End of March 2025
Post Kick-off
Early April 2025
Want to get involved?
Apply
Interested? Apply now to take your venture to the next level! We’re accepting applications on a rolling basis with limited spots. It only takes a few minutes to check your eligibility through our survey. If you qualify, we’ll send you the full application form.
Refer
Know someone who’s a good fit? Let us know, and we’ll reach out to assess their eligibility. Share their contact info here!
Connect
Need more information? Drop us a note and we’ll arrange a call to answer any questions you may have.
All your questions, answered
- Highly tailored to you: We design the program around your goals and gaps. Some components, like the sprint series, are set, but others are co-developed with you to ensure they meet your unique needs. We’re not here to pull you away from your business, but to provide the tools, guidance, and accountability to tackle those big moves you’ve been putting off.
- It’s a “doing” program: We recognize the expertise you already bring; we’re here to equip you with additional insights and skills that are actually useful, not to lecture you. For example, our core “sprint” series in the first half of the program focuses on investment readiness, with key deliverables you’ll work on with mentor support to prepare for investor introductions.
- Team-focused support: Unlike many accelerators that focus only on CEOs, we work closely with your team — from management colleagues to mid-level staff who need capacity building in skills like sales and marketing. They’ll participate in dedicated training, coaching, and peer learning sessions.
- Longer timeline, more impact: At 9 months, our program is longer than most in Cambodia, but it’s designed to work for you. The intensity varies, giving you space to apply what you learn, then tackle the next set of goals with our support. Plus, you’ll engage with investors throughout, giving you time to strengthen your business based on their feedback and questions, and navigate the relationship with expert guidance.
Digital transformation has immense potential to tackle climate change and other pressing environmental problems, from biodiversity loss to water and sanitation to sustainable agriculture and food waste. The “twin transition” approach that grounds the DGIx program highlights the synergy between technology and sustainability, treating them not as separate goals but as complementary forces.
Through the DGIx program, we aim to help strengthen and scale up digital, tech enabled, and/or data-driven innovations that can create more resilient, adaptable, sustainable, and thriving economies. In addition to ventures with digital or tech-enabled solutions embedded within their products or services, we also welcome other types of ventures that demonstrate strong use of digitalization, data, or tech to improve the sustainability of their operations internally.
Applicants will be evaluated by a selection committee through the written application forms, interview(s), and additional due diligence (this may include a visit to your offices or facilities, meeting members of your team or business partners, review of business registrations and key financial documentation, etc.). In addition to meeting basic eligibility, applicants will be evaluated on three overarching criteria:
- Alignment with the “digital & green” focus of the accelerator — The venture uses digital, data-driven, or tech-enabled innovations to address an environmental challenge facing Cambodia. Positive environmental impact should be a demonstrated core value of the venture.
- Business track record and potential — The venture can demonstrate the viability of their business model, evidence of revenue to date, and evidence of feasibility and adoption by target users/customers. The venture should have a clear vision for growth.
- Commitment to the program — The venture is motivated to strengthen their operations, strategy, and investment potential. There is strong buy-in to participate in the accelerator by the senior management team. The venture is willing and able to invest staff time into participating in program activities and working independently and with mentors/consultants to advance co-defined milestones.
Yes – you may hear of the Digital & Green Innovation Accelerator implemented in other countries! DGIx Cambodia is part of the global DGI Action, a joint project between the European Union, Germany, France, Belgium, and Estonia. The DGI Accelerators are one component of this global initiative, localized and implemented in different contexts across the world.
The DGIx Africa program is currently being implemented by the WFP Innovation Accelerator, and DGIx Indonesia will be launched in 2025 with local partners. DGIx Cambodia is being implemented here for the first time in 2025, by GIZ in partnership with Impact Hub Phnom Penh.
Yes, ventures that operate regionally or globally are welcome to join the program. However, you must have a base of operations and a team in Cambodia, and a track record (sales, market reach, revenue) in Cambodia.
The short answer: No. However, we will do our best to make sure you’re ready to seriously engage an investor. This means ensuring you understand how different types of investments work (and which one might be best suited for you), hear directly from investors on the criteria they examine, and work on specific products/deliverables that any company needs to engage investors.
You will also have mock meetings and real meetings with investors throughout the program, which we will arrange, facilitate, and support.
There are no costs associated with your participation in the program. If travel is required to attend program activities and events, we will cover your travel expenses. However, we ask for your staff time and commitment to participate in the program.
Most activities can take place online. There will be a few in-person activities throughout the year (roughly once per quarter), primarily in or near Phnom Penh and at least one regional trip. We also encourage you to meet regularly in-person with the program mentors and additional support consultants.
Do you have more questions?
If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Program Manager (Chermeng) at chermeng.thang@impacthub.net | Telegram: (+855) 69 676 650
Our Partners
DGIx Cambodia is a programme implemented by Impact Hub Phnom Penh in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
