Tanzania’s Dar Ventures, Plug and Play to take built environment accelerator global

Tanzania’s Dar Ventures has partnered with Plug and Play to scale DarE, its programme for built environment tech startups, with applications now open for a new cohort targeting founders across Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Dar Ventures is the venture capital arm of Dar, a top 10 international design firm and founding member of Sidara, one of the world’s largest privately held engineering and consulting groups. DarE has so far supported 32 startups across four cohorts, connecting them with industry expertise, commercial opportunities and investors.

The partnership brings in Plug and Play’s global network of more than 60 offices, over 550 corporate and government partners, and over 10,000 startups accelerated since 2012. The aim is to turn DarE from a traditional accelerator into a global community linking architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) startups with the corporates, projects, markets and capital that can speed up adoption.

The 12-week hybrid programme will target pre-seed to pre-Series A startups with a working MVP or market-ready product and early market validation. Selected companies will get tailored expert support, one-on-one mentorship, direct industry engagement, and access to investors, corporate partners and international markets. DarE will focus on AI, automation, data, digital delivery and sustainability solutions with clear real-world applications, and participants will join an alumni network that continues beyond each cohort.

“The built environment remains one of the largest sectors globally, and especially across the regions where we operate – yet we believe there remains significant untapped potential to transform how we design, build, and operate our cities and infrastructure,” said Faysal Shair, co-founder of Dar Ventures.

In under three years, Dar Ventures has engaged with more than 100 ideas, incubated over 30 companies and invested in 13 startups across the built environment value chain.

Applications for the next DarE cohort are open here, with the programme kicking off in November.

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