Accra-based MEST Incubator has announced it is expanding into the startup community in Kenya and is now calling on entrepreneurs and techies to apply to be part of its intensive training program during which they would get necessary training and support that would enable them to launch their own software company.
They could also secure seed investment opportunities from MEST incubator.
In a statement made available to Ventureburn, the incubator revealed the Kenya launch makes the East African country the third nation the incubator will be operating following Ghana and Nigeria.
In 2014, MEST Incubator ventured into the Nigerian market after securing sponsorship agreement with Interswitch.
Ekua Odoom, Managing Director, MEST Training Program said: “We’ve found the diversification of students in Nigeria and Ghana exponentially increased the business ideas that come from this kind of meeting of the minds. We can only imagine the ripple effect of adding even more perspectives from across the continent.”
Successful Kenyan applicants travel to Accra, Ghana to participate in the MEST training program starting August 2015. They are required to have a deep passion to start a software company; they should also have 3-5 years entrepreneurial or corporate work experience.
MEST also announced it has shifted its program from two years to one year.
“With this exciting change, we hope that a broader number and variety of candidates will now be able to quickly acquire the skills they desire to launch the next generation of leading software companies in Africa,” the incubator stated.
MEST also revealed it is planning to expand to new locations and mentor networks established in the coming years in Nairobi, Lagos, Cape Town and Johannesburg, in addition to its flagship, original incubator complex in Accra.
“The scope and resources of our incubator program is unique and a valuable service we provide the entrepreneurs in our community,” says Neal Hansch, Managing Director, MEST Incubator.
“Now our future graduating Entrepreneurs-in-Training will have the ability to launch and have support for their companies in their home countries, after completing the one year training program in Ghana, while also allowing our current companies to more easily access new markets as they grow their businesses.”
