HOPin Incubation Program
The HOPin Academy Incubation Program 2022 is an initiative of HOPin Academy, in partnership with Bidrag til Ghana (BtG) and has been in operation since the year 2014. Each year, the Academy hosts 2 cohorts of the incubation training that are rolled out for young entrepreneurs in the Northern Region, who are provided with business development skills, mentorship and resources to help them create viable and sustainable businesses to solve challenges in their communities.
The 2022 first cohort of Incubation was not rolled out from the incubation sole purpose of equipping young entrepreneurs with tools, resources, mentorships and financial grants that would enable them to become stable and self-sufficient businesses and also understand the internal and external components of their business. A total of 12 teams selected to go through a period of three (3) months of incubation training from April,2022 to June, 2022 and an additional three (3) months of post-incubation training, August, 2023 to October, 2022 however 8 of the teams completed the programs successfully.
The first cohort’s training targeted joint ventures solving problems in the sectors of agriculture, waste management or smart city. The participants were taken through a 3 months business development skill training and were given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas for a seed fund of 1000 USD each, awarded to the best 3 teams of the cohort to enable them scale up their businesses.
The facilitators for the cohort were outsourced. Experts who were recognized by their experiences and training in business development and Information Technology within the local ecosystem were engaged to handle the incubation topics. The training curriculum was flexible and facilitators were given the opportunity to facilitate either face to face or virtually. More activities were introduced to the facilitation. This was to make the sessions more lovely, engaging, interactive and encouraged networking.
At the end of the incubation training, the incubatees business were formally registered at the Registrar General’s Office.
After the 3 months incubation training “incubatees” were assigned mentors for a 3 months post-incubation mentorship program. The mentorship program further ensures that “incubatees” identify benchmarks and goals towards their operations and also outline skilled areas to enhance or develop through the mentorship program.