Apply to the Seed Transformation Program in Africa, Indonesia, or South Asia to gain access to Stanford’s leadership training, coaching, and networking support, and to transform your company.

Applicants must:

1. Be a CEO or founder of an established company or market-driven social enterprise
2. Lead a company with a strong value proposition and potential to grow, with annual revenue between USD 300K–15M (equivalent to approximately: INR 2.7–135 Cr, IDR 4.5–230 billion) and that is registered in sub-Saharan Africa, Indonesia, or South Asia
3. Have a management team of at least three people in addition to the CEO or founder

Educational Requirements

There are no specific educational requirements. We do not require you to take the GMAT or any other exam to apply to or qualify for the Seed Transformation Program.

English-Language Proficiency

We do not require TOEFL or other English proficiency tests to apply to or qualify for the Seed Transformation Program.

CEOs and founders must be able to understand and speak English well enough to participate in this fast-paced program, which is conducted in English. However, they can benefit from learning in their preferred language using ur AI-powered translation tools. 

Participating managers do not need to be fully fluent in English. Our program provides real-time and on-demand translation during live lectures and recorded sessions in 50+ languages, including Afrikaans, Arabic, French, isiZulu, Kiswahili, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesian, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Nepali, Punjab, Sinhala, Tamil, and Urdu. Seed’s Business Advisors can deliver workshops in many of the prevailing local languages to ensure everyone can fully engage with the content.

This approach allows your entire team to access business materials, participate in discussions, and collaborate effectively.

Admission to the Seed Transformation Program is very competitive. An admissions committee will assess all completed applications based on the program’s criteria for admission. The application requires leader and company information, as well as a personal statement.

Online Application

You must fill out and submit the application online. Estimated time to complete: approximately one hour. Applicants have the option to begin, save and return to complete.

Selection Process

First, we screen applications for our core eligibility criteria (outlined above). Next, we review each application to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the CEO/founder, the management team, the company’s business model, and the potential for impact. Following the screening and application review, we create a shortlist of companies that will move forward to the interview stage. Applicants will be asked to submit a recorded video interview and their company’s financials, and will later take part in a live interview. In the interview stage, we aim to learn more about who you are as a leader, what motivates you about your business, and the strengths and weaknesses of your management team. We’ll also consider your company’s core value proposition, market potential, and potential to scale. All of these dimensions inform the impact you and your company might have on the world, in alignment with Seed’s mission. We aim to select the highest potential business leaders and firms from the different markets in which we work.

Whether you are selected to move forward to the interview phase or not, we will contact you by 1 July. Due to the high volume of applications, we are not able to provide feedback to each applicant individually. We plan to complete the interview phase by August and extend offers of admission mid-September. The program will start in mid-January.

Payment details will be provided upon acceptance into the program.

Due to donor support, this program is offered at a small portion of its actual cost. 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.

A limited number of additional subsidies/scholarships (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 information on how to apply.