Villgro Africa, in collaboration with BioInnovate Africa, recently concluded a four-day bootcamp for 72 bioscience innovators drawn from across East Africa. Key experts from Villgro Africa facilitated the comprehensive program, with modules ranging from investment readiness, go-to-market strategies, the Business Model Canvas, storyboarding, value chain analysis and commercialization and regulatory pathways.
The program was designed to empower entrepreneurial scientists to develop innovative and commercially viable biological-based ideas. The bootcamp was structured with assignments for each session and included a series of lectures and discussions with breakout rooms facilitated by the instructors.
The practical interactive sessions helped the participants use the business development tools for their innovations. This gave them an opportunity to visualize the pathways to scale their innovations, a topic most participants mentioned they struggled with.
6 out of the 24 innovation teams will be provided with 3 months coaching through competitive selection based on their submissions. At the end of the 3 month coaching, participants will be invited to pitch to Villgro Africa for $20,000 ticket size funding towards their startups. This will be competitively awarded for up to 2 or 3 of the 6 teams coached.