Design and Technology Institute awards 5 SMEs $25,000 as Seed Capital
Aug. 17, 2022, 3:02 p.m.
The Design and Technology Institute (DTI) has rewarded five learners, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with a total seed capital of $25,000 to support their business ideas under its pre-accelerator program as part of the Community Innovative Project.
The competition is a business pitch and accelerator initiative designed to identify, recognize and support promising student-led enterprises with the potential to scale and create sustainable jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.
The initiative honors learners with creative and innovative ideas in agriculture, water and sanitation, plastics recycling, e-waste, and other sectors of the economy. As part of the competition, participants involved in in-depth research and engagement with communities to co-design solutions to address communal problems in a sustainable manner.
The winners will graduate and advance with their prototypes into a six-month pre-acceleration program. The pre-acceleration program will serve as a platform for the winners to gain extensive business management and financial and operational resources. It will be the catalyst for fundraising activities and investment opportunities at DTI.
Ms. Constance Swaniker, Founder and CEO of DTI, congratulated the five teams on their well-deserved qualification for the grand finale. “As a TVET center of excellence, we believe that empowering youth-led SMEs is crucial in driving Ghana’s economic development and accelerating progress towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We are thrilled to be able to provide opportunities for youth-led SMEs to scale up and reach their entrepreneurial potential through our Community Innovation Project, and we look forward to seeing the amount of growth their businesses experience.”
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“As West Africa’s premier prototype development center, we are on a journey to train and develop learners who are attuned to the socio-economic needs of people, community, and business and are ready and willing to develop innovative solutions to meet such needs to generate income for themselves and also create sustainable jobs for the youth,” she added.
The winners were selected by a panel of judges drawn from industry and academia to evaluate the ideas for their originality, practicality, potential impact, and scalability.
The overall winner, Master Kraft, developed a multipurpose wheelchair for the aged and the physically challenged and received $ 10,000
First, runner-up, Tom SB, developed a burglar-proof security system and received $ 7,000
Second runner-up, Quickserve, developed a mobile app for the supply of welders, and digital innovators received $ 5,000
Consolation prize, FIRM-JZ developed a Multipurpose Ladder Trolley and received $ 1,500
Consolation prize, Nine Tech Engineers – AdvansRule received $ 1,500
The five finalists were selected from a shortlist of 15 teams that underwent six-month training in problem identification, research, ideation, and prototype development, which commenced on 15th December 2021. The finalists had the most innovative ideas with the potential to scale and create sustainable jobs.
The competition forms part of DTI’s three-year partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under Young Africa Works “Transforming youth TVET livelihoods for sustainable jobs’’. The project will provide 40,000 direct and indirect work opportunities for the youth in the country.
The Community Innovation Project seeks to build a portfolio of innovative start-ups that will be incubated and supported with seed capital, business development services, access to the market, and a maker space to grow their innovations from ideation into sustainable businesses.
tag: Funding, SMEs, Business, Design And Technology Institute, Startup,
Enoch Siaw Ntiamoah Author
Enoch is a content writer for Digital Times Africa, who is passionate about writing interesting topics in Entertainment, Sports and General News