Five young entrepreneurs of Senegalese origin have been selected to receive six months of business incubation and $2 000 seed-funding to kick-start their business. The Senegal Start-Up Accelerator, run by Kosmos Innovation Centre and Reach for Change, has been looking for young Senegalese entrepreneurs with innovative ideas that could tackle the challenges facing the agriculture sector through technology to join its program for the last two months.
The Senegal Start-Up Accelerator is designed to support innovators in the fishing and agricultural sectors to develop their commercial solutions and maximize their impact, helping them to navigate the early stages of business growth. Over the course of six months, the program will provide the five winners with intensive and expert individual and group training, organized visits to established businesses for market research and professional mentoring. The winners will also receive $2 000 each in seed funding, with the chance to secure additional funding upon completing the program.
The five entrepreneurs selected to join the accelerator have successfully completed an extensive screening process, including interviews and background checks, an assessment panel and an intensive two-day boot camp. This boot camp ended in a pitch before a jury panel with judges from Reach for Change, Kosmos Energy and prominent experts from the agricultural and fishing industries in Senegal.
Mamadou Mar Faye, External Affairs and CSR Manager, Kosmos Energy said, “Through this accelerator program, we’re delighted to do our part to make certain that young, promising entrepreneurs have the skills and support they need to help turn their innovative business ideas become a reality. Each winner will be guided through the process of developing a product that is ready for market and meets a real market need, contributing to the creation of a healthy and competitive agricultural sector in Senegal. Look out for five exciting new products coming to the market in just six months’ time!”.
The cohort will begin the six-month Senegal Start-Up Accelerator in January 2019.
Participants will be taught everything they need to know from how to develop customer profiles and how to carry out competitor analysis, to how to make a product roadmap and develop a sustainable revenue model for their business.
The Senegal Start-Up Accelerator is a part of Reach for Change and Kosmos Energy’s commitment to social investment in the countries where the two organizations work, and will go towards enhancing Senegal’s future sustainable development.
