The Institute for Private Enterprise Development [IPED] and the Caribbean Innovation Climate Innovation Centre [CCIC] will tomorrow host a Green Tech Startup Bootcamp. The event which is scheduled to commence at 14:00 hours at the Tower Hotel, has as its objectives to: train in the new entrepreneurship business education; generation of business solutions based on market gaps; development of sustainable business models; grant funding; government and private sector engagement and building of clean tech eco system.
The desired outcome of the forum is to realize the creation of a regional pool of sustainable, clean tech start-ups with the capacity to release their products or services to market and raise additional capital to grow and to help with the building of the Caribbean clean tech ecosystem.
CCIC track-record includes: Seven bootcamps and Idea Generation Sessions held between the periods February to December 2016 –Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
It has been able to train over 300 entrepreneurs in new business models; allowed for 52 teams pitched their business ideas; saw the involvement of 67 mentors; allowed for 21 top teams to be selected and given grant funding for business facilitation; allowed for seven teams advance to the GreenTech Accelerator Programme and allowed for one team to advance to the Business Hatchery programme at CARIRI, Trinidad.
Moreover it is expected that the two primary objectives of this session are to educate participants on what is a startup and market problems. Once potential bootcamp participants have a better understanding of the real technology/project problems related to climate change, they will be better equipped to enter the bootcamp with a business idea.