Africa
Accra & Nairobi
Week One
18–22 January — Accra, Ghana
Week Two
7–11 June — Nairobi, Kenya
Lead Your Business To
Record Growth.
- Built for established CEOs and founders
- Led by Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty and local advisors
- Delivered in Accra, Chennai, Jakarta, Nairobi and at your company
- 10 months, part-time
- Grow revenue, build your team, scale with confidence
- Enter a lifelong Network of 1,500+ entrepreneurs across three continents
Participant Outcomes
of companies report securing capital after the Seed program
increased revenue after the Seed program
29%
median change in revenue one year after the Seed program
$2 Billion (USD)
collective capital secured through loans, equity, and grants after Seed
“Stanford Seed. Three words: a quiet revolution. Some experiences leave a mark. Others transform you. Stanford Seed belongs firmly to the latter.”
Aniela Vé Kouakou Founding PartnerAGILOYA AFRIQUE, West Africa
Program Structure
In-Person Locations
Format
Part-time | Hybrid (in-person + online) | Designed for busy CEOs and founders
Program Dates
January – November 2027 | 10 Months
In-Person Classroom Sessions
Two one-week sessions for CEOs/founders
with Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty
Indonesia
Jakarta
Week One
18–22 January
Week Two
7–11 June
South Asia
Chennai
Week One
18–22 January
Week Two
7–11 June
Time Commitment
CEOs / Founders: 5–8 hours/week
Management Team: 2–4 hours/week
Management Team Workshops
Two online workshops and two on-site, full-day sessions hosted at your company. Dates coordinated with you & your team.
Leadership Labs
Four structured peer roundtables focused on solving key business challenges.
Travel may be required.
Learn in the Language You Think Best
Experience real-time and on-demand translation during live lectures and recorded sessions. Available in 50+ languages, including Afrikaans, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Kiswahili, IsiZulu, Bahasa Indonesian, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Nepali, Sinhala, Tamil, and Urdu.
Certificates
Receive two Stanford Graduate School of Business certifications—one for you and one for your company.
CEO Certificate of Completion
Company Statement of Completion
Application Deadline: 1 June 2026
Program Fee
Donor-Supported Rate
Due to donor support, this program is offered to you at a small portion of its actual cost.
Africa
USD 9,500*
Indonesia
IDR 140,000,000*
South Asia
INR 8,50,000*
Made possible by the generosity of founding donors Robert King (MBA ‘60), Dorothy King, and many others, including the De Beers Group—for participants in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa—and AMMAN (PT Amman Mineral Internasional Tbk)—for participants in Indonesia.
*Travel and lodging not included. Lunch and tea/coffee breaks provided throughout In-Person Classroom Sessions.
Scholarships Available
A limited number of additional scholarships/subsidies (up to 60% of the donor-supported program fee) may be awarded to those with unique caregiving responsibilities/women founders, social entrepreneurs, small enterprises, and founders operating in underserved or under-resourced markets. Scholarships are limited and not guaranteed.
Applicants who advance to the interview stage will receive details on how to apply.
Eligibility
Participant Requirements
Position
CEO or Founder
of a for-profit business
Region
Africa, Indonesia, or South Asia
Primary operations
Team Size
Management team of at least three
in addition to the CEO or founder
Industry
Most industries are eligible
Annual Revenue
USD 300K–15M
Equivalent to approximately: INR 2.7–135 Cr · IDR 4.5–230 billion
Growing, but not there yet?
If your business’s annual revenue is under:
- USD 300K
- INR 2.7 Cr
- IDR 4.5 billion
Explore Stanford’s programs for early-stage and small growing enterprises.
Discover Programs
Application Deadline: 1 June 2026
Seed Stories
Hear from Past Participants
Meet entrepreneurs who have completed the Seed Transformation Program. Hear how they are growing their businesses and the impact they are having in their communities.
Olufunto BorofficeFounder & CEO, Chanja Datti · Nigeria
Instructors
Meet the Faculty
Jesper SørensenStanford Seed, Faculty Director and The Robert A. and Elizabeth R. Jeffe Professor, and Professor of Organizational Behavior
Baba ShivThe Sanwa Bank, Limited, Professor of Marketing
Jonathan LevavThe King Philanthropies Professor of Marketing
Learning Journey
STP Curriculum Overview
- Explore essential concepts and frameworks for AI-powered organizations in an opening AI overview session.
- Apply the Strategy Identification Framework to evaluate your firm’s competitive advantages. Use the Business Model Canvas (BMC) to map, test, and redesign how your business creates and captures value.
- Identify growth opportunities and set SMART, ambitious goals to scale sustainably.
- Deeply analyze your customers using the Jobs-to-Be-Done framework.
- Design your Value Proposition Canvas (VPC) to sharpen how you solve customer pains and create gains.
- Position your business effectively by comparing Points of Superiority, Parity, and Inferiority against competitors.
- Diagnose bottlenecks and redesign processes using operations and value chain analysis.
- Build financial fluency through the Leaders’ Financial Practicum, linking strategy to financial outcomes.
- Master core accounting tools—profitability analysis, working capital, and the Balanced Scorecard—to manage performance and resources.
- Segment and target customers using the STP frameworks and real-world cases.
- Craft compelling positioning statements and design go-to-market strategies aligned with your sales funnel.
- Strengthen your sales engine by mapping the decision-making unit (DMU), quantifying customer pain, and building repeatable sales processes.
- Complete a 360° Leadership Feedback assessment to benchmark your leadership style.
- Build core competencies of the GSB Leadership Model: self-awareness, perspective-taking, context awareness, communication, and decision-making.
- Draft a Leadership Action Plan to guide your personal growth alongside business growth.
- Evaluate trade-offs between financing options—bank debt, equity, venture capital, and hybrids.
- Strengthen organizational alignment using the PARC framework (People, Architecture, Routines, Culture).
- Design performance-driven systems through strategic human capital planning and managerial performance measurement.
- Present your company’s Transformation Plan, a coherent, actionable roadmap for the next 2–3 years, which you will have developed throughout the program.
The Seed Transformation Program’s rigorous leadership and business growth curriculum guides CEOs/founders and their key managers through seven core modules essential for transformative scaling. From strategy and business model development to leadership growth and financial management, the comprehensive curriculum covers all aspects needed to scale an established enterprise for exponential growth. Faculty sessions incorporate hands-on AI-based tools and exercises, equipping participants with practical methods for process improvement and leveraging technologies to innovate. The program culminates in the completion of the company’s Transformation Plan—an actionable roadmap that synthesizes all learnings into a strategic blueprint for growth.
Lifelong Network
The Journey Continues
Most programs end with a certificate. Seed builds lifelong connections. Following the completion of the 10-month Seed Transformation Program, CEOs join the Seed Transformation Network, a powerful and vibrant community of 1,500+ fellow Seed graduates from across Africa, South Asia, and Indonesia. In addition to ongoing learning and networking events through local chapters, Network members receive access to Seed Coaches, project-based Seed Consultants, and Stanford student interns.
42%
have done business with a fellow program participant
“ The network is such an incredible community. It’s a group of people who genuinely believe in and support one another… coming together not for what they can get, but to contribute to something bigger. That spirit of generosity and connection is truly unique.”
Joanna Maiden CEO & Founder, SOKO KenyaThis is My Tribe
Seed Transformation Network: A global fabric of like-minded entrepreneurs, providing support, collaboration, and opportunities for business growth.
How to Apply
Application & Selection Timeline
1
Application
18 February – 1 June 2026
Submit your written application. We’ll review for core criteria, including revenue thresholds and leadership roles.
2
Deep Dive
1 April – 24 June 2026
Selected applicants submit a video interview and financial documentation for comprehensive review.
3
Live Interviews
1 July – 26 August 2026
Selected candidates participate in live interviews with our selection committee.
4
Final Selection
2 – 11 September 2026
Our admissions committee curates the final cohort to ensure diverse perspectives and peer compatibility. We review applications on a rolling basis. Early submission is encouraged.
Decisions Announced
16 September 2026
Commitment Deadline
29 September 2026
“I think [Seed] was one of the best decisions that I could have ever taken. Most of the programs they work with you, not your team. So I think that was the differentiator. Before the program, we were working with about 100,000 farmers. Today, we are working with close to 250,000 farmers. We were at around USD 3 million revenue when we started. And today we have close to USD 6 million revenue.”
Saurabh Agarwal Founder & CEO, GROWiT IndiaApplication Deadline: 1 June 2026
The Institution
About Stanford
Stanford University, founded in 1885 and located in the heart of Silicon Valley, is a leading research institution known for its academic excellence and innovation, consistently ranking among the leading universities globally. The Stanford Graduate School of Business, established in 1925, is widely recognized as one of the top MBA programs in the world, known for its rigorous curriculum, world-class faculty, and strong emphasis on leadership development and social impact. Stanford MBA graduates go on to lead Fortune 500 companies, launch groundbreaking startups, and drive transformative change across industries.
Stanford Seed is a philanthropic institute based at the GSB with locations across Africa, South Asia, and Indonesia. The institute partners with entrepreneurs in emerging markets to help them build thriving enterprises that transform lives.