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Blue Venture Builder AFRICA

Cape Town 2024

Digital entrepreneurship is the driver of digital change in Africa. Entrepreneurs have the potential to modernize the economies and societies of their countries.

They possess the skills to create new perspectives, find innovative solutions and develop new employment opportunities. Nevertheless, many young technology startups from Sub-Saharan Africa are still unable to make the leap to international market maturity. There is a lack of access to capital, customers, suitable personnel, and digital infrastructure. To be successful, entrepreneurs need a functioning "innovation ecosystem” consisting of reference customers, investors, funding agencies and training partners.

Building a regional, interconnected, and gender-diverse Blue Technology Community.

Hatch and Ocean Hub Africa with the support of Deutsch Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) are partnering to build a regional and interconnected blue tech community with a gender lens. The Blue Venture Builder AFRICA program looks to support the creation of a sustainable ecosystem around Blue Tech with inclusivity in Southern Africa.

  • The deadline to apply is 29 March, 2024.

  • Program kicks off 1 May, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.

faq Blue Venture Builder AFRICA

  • the Blue Venture Builder is a first generation collaboration between Ocean Hub Africa, GIZ and HATCH. the programme seeks individuals and teams with a skillset that can solve specific bottlenecks and problems within the sustainable blue economy. through an initial 10 day bootcamp, participants will be connected with the programme’s supporters, mentors, and workshop participants to brainstorm business models and ideally, create viable, sustainable, blue economy business solutions.

  • the ultimate objective is to build viable, sustainable, blue economy businesses that will have an impact in the sector.

  • application deadline is Friday, 29th of March, 2024.

  • Phase I

    1st - 10th May, 2024 : 10 day bootcamp

    location: Cape Town, South Africa

    Phase II & III

    5-month remote and hybrid process

  • our 2024 Blue Venture Builder will be located in Cape Town, South Africa.

  • this programme is a 3 phase process beginning with phase I on 1st May, 2024 for a 10-day bootcamp. phases II & III consist of a “validation” and “acceleration” period that will take place over the course of a further 5 months.

  • all flight travel (up to €1000) accommodation (100 euro/night) and a per diem (30 euro) will be covered for each selected participant.

  • whilst there is no equity investment during the programme, there is opportunity to meet investors within our network who may seek to invest in your company, including HATCH and other investors in the blue economy.

  • if you attend with already existing patents or IP, there is no specific requirement for you to disclose your confidential information (including any trade secrets) or IP during the program. however if you do wish to share any information with us, the HATCH team will ensure that all information is kept totally confidential and will not be shared without your written permission.

  • you do not need to have a registered company to apply for this programme. however, we expect all participants to have the objective of setting up a company during the course of the programme and will evaluate applicants on this accordingly.

  • on a case-by-case basis, we will consider a maximum of four participants per team.

  • yes, during the initial 10-day bootcamp beginning on 1st May, on-site presence is required as we will run all activities in one location. in our experience, physically connecting with the cohort, HATCH team and its mentors is far more rewarding and productive.

    the subsequent phase II & III of the programme will take place remote and hybrid.

  • subsequent online support sessions will continue to assess participant’s progress.

  • HATCH was conceived in late 2017 by co-founders Carsten Krome, Wayne Murphy and Georg Baunach, with the goal to revolutionise the way we produce seafood through investing in its technological development.