The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) is now accepting applications from entrepreneurs based in South Africa to join the 2017 Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EIT) program.
EIT is a fully sponsored entrepreneurship training program that will run for one year at the MEST flagship campus in Accra, Ghana. The entrepreneurship program blends an MBA-style education program with hands-on training in software development.
The training program will entail participants splitting into teams and each team tasked with coming up with an economically viable product, write up a business plan and pitch before investors.
The team with the strongest and most promising product will be revealed during the pitch. The best teams will walk away from the pitch with $50k to $250k in equity funding. Funds that will go towards launching their product in the market on a commercial basis.
The winning teams will also join MEST incubation program, where they will continue receiving hands-on training and support for their newly launched product.
This is a call to action to promising entrepreneurs across South Africa to apply for the EIT program. Especially, entrepreneurs with a deep passion for developing a globally successful software solution and have some experience in the entrepreneurial and corporate world. You can apply here. The application window closes on March 10th 2017. The EIT program commences in August 2017.
Successful applicants will be housed in Ghana for the duration of the one year the EIT program will take. They will be given three meals per day and some monthly stipends to keep the going. They will be required to be completely focused on building world class tech businesses, and not be distracted by the daily hustle of making bread.
The next batch of entrepreneurs to undertake the EIT program will come from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Cote d’Ivoire. MEST intends to create a pan-African network of entrepreneurs and while at it create a big pool of talent and ideas.
The main goal for MEST is to increase entrepreneurship adoption rate across Africa; in particular among the youth. While at it, increase the flow of outside investment to the continent.