The Demo Day 2022 took place on the 23rd of July at Recycle Up! Hub in Kumasi while Guests also had the opportunity to join online. It was an exciting exchange between already established and experienced partners who applied their knowledge and wisdom and innovative and determined incubatees. The theme of the day was Green Economy: The Role of Entrepreneurs.
We featured The 7 incubatees; Ariella Myco Integrated, Biogas Innov, Waste Advantage Afric, Waste ME GH, UpcycleComfort, F&W Env. Solution and Waste Cure had the chance to present their outstanding business projects and future plans to an interested audience and important investors with critical feedback. Cohort 3 incubatees who completed 6 months of intensive business training at Recycle Up! Ghana, and 30 trained women from rural communities in the Agona district, doing fantastic work in the Green Entrepreneurship space. Our mission is to help young people develop local waste solutions to achieve a circular economy in Ghana.
At the end of the pitch, was the announcement of the Winners, Waste Advantage Afric, Upcycle Comforts, and Biogas Innov who were awarded cash prizes to the tune of 10,000 Ghana Cedis to support their business growth
The month of August was mainly for the legal clinic session which was meant to further delve into the legal concerns of the entrepreneurs in their various fields. The session was a one-on-one session conducted by the Clifford Chance Legal team and the AB and Davids Legal team
The subsequent two months were used to prepare for and recruit a new batch of entrepreneurs for the startup weekend which is a prerequisite for the next incubation cohort.
The team visited institutions of higher educational leanings, technical and vocational schools to do the recruitment for the startup weekend. A targeted online campaign was also made to reach out to the vast majority of young people with brilliant business ideas. The startup weekend will commence in November.
The Recycle Up Ghana incubation program has had many exciting and informative sessions that seek to aid young entrepreneurs in navigating the business terrain.
In May, the entrepreneurs were taken through two distinct sessions.
On the 11th of May 2022, there was a masterclass on Impact Metrics and the Theory of Change which is in line with their Market Validation process.
The masterclass was a two-hour-long event which had entrepreneurs learning about social impact management, operational measurement, what to measure and how to measure, they were also taken through the Theory of Change (TOC) which will allow SMEs to map how their product links to the broader social impact they want to achieve.
On the 23rd of May 2022, a session was held on Taxation and Contracts which was aimed at equipping the SMEs to understand contract law in Ghana, the elements of a contract discharge of a contract and how to draft a contract, The session also looked at the taxation system in ghana, the laws governing taxation, the types of taxes and the various tax reliefs available for the SMEs and how to access them,
In June, the entrepreneurs had a masterclass on leadership, management teams and roles, they were introduced to the types of leadership styles and also the various ways in becoming effective team leaders as young entrepreneurs.They also were given the chance to identify the leadership style that suits their personalities and working environment.The SMEs were supported to produce and finetune their prototypes , the idea behind is to get them to produce a minimum viable product that can be market acceptable and ready
The month of July presented itself as the final month othe the six months incubation program. The entrepreneurs were taken through a series of Pitch Workshops and practices that comprised effective pitching, the types of pitches and their various pitch decks.
The SMEs were also taken through a legal session and a legal clinic which aims at getting the entrepreneurs prepared for the legalities of their operations, the clinic als had SMEs having a 1 on 1 session with the legal team of lawyers to better structure the legal aspect of their businesses.
The month of July will be crowned off with a Demo day event which will outdoor the SMEs to the public and various investors . There will be a seed funding for some of the SMEs on the event day aside market linkages
Recycle Up! Ghana (RUG) empowers young spirited Ghanaians to become changemakers in their society. Based on the success of our initiatives and the ever-increasing necessity for innovation we are determined to move one step further with our incubation program.
The Recycle Up! Ghana Incubation programme Cohort 3 commenced on January 18th 2022 with an introduction session. Entrepreneurs were equipped with first-hand information on the six-month incubation program. They were made aware of the structure and various modules which will be employed during the six-month incubation program , the handbook and contract for the entire program was also shared to the entrepreneurs.
On the 20th of January 2022 the entrepreneurs had a session on Goal Setting and OKRs (Objective Key Results). At the end of the session, the entrepreneurs were able to set SMART goals for their businesses and also develop OKRs, they were introduced to a template which will aid them with setting their OKRs and also properly defining their organisational vision and mission .
On the 21st of February entrepreneurs were trained to develop a hands-on approach toproblem solving with user-centricity and empathy. The design thinking session taught SMEs on collaboration, ideation, experimentation and iteration. The SMEs were psyched towards action centered activities instead of hypothesizing.
The Recycle Up! Ghana Incubator program contributes to the creation of a robust circular economy in Ghana where all resources are effectively used to maximize impact thereby avoiding waste. The incubation program is a 6-month program which employs several modules in equipping SMEs for the entrepreneurial landscape.
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We want to use this opportunity to personally thank you for your kind and wholehearted contribution once again. Your support allows us to create local solutions to the waste problem in Ghana and we would like to share with you what happened in our Incubator program during the last months.
The Recycle Up! Ghana startup weekend was a three day event, during which groups of young enthusiastic entrepreneurs, idea phase startups and budding innovative entrepreneurs went through structuring ,idea refinement, problem solution fit, and pitching of circular ideas. The opening of the application commenced on the 4th october 2021 and ended on the 3rd of november with a total application of 59. After scrutinization of the application, 33 participants were shortlisted.
Applicants reported on Thursday 4th november,2021 at 4:00pm at the hub of which 30 applicants were present. On Friday the 5th of November , the weekend commenced. Participants arrived at the premises at 6:45am by bus after they lodged in the previous night for early reporting . Breakfast was served and the program began. It was inaugurated by Mrs Angela Anane Frimpong, the business incubation manager. (Recycle up ! Ghana).
They were then ushered into the the training session which comprised of
After an intensive training, it was now time for the pitch deck.
Judges were set and the rules of the game were set for the participants to adhere to it. 13 business teams took part in the pitching. The top 3 businesses emerged atop and gained an automatic qualification to be part of the cohort 3 incubation program.
The first business was awarded with a seed fund of GH 2,000.00.
There was an official launch for the next Recycle Up! Ghana incubation programme with an application deadline of 24th November,2021, this will be an intense 6 month training session on business development for eco-friendly green businesses.
We want to use this opportunity to personally thank you for your kind and wholehearted contribution once again. Your support allows us to create local solutions to the waste problem in Ghana and we would like to share with you what happened in our Incubator program during the last months.
After an intensive six months of in-depth training, the second cohort of our Recycle Up! Incubator graduated with their Demo Day on July 24th. Seven green startups pitched their business ideas to an interested audience at our Hub in Fumesua-Kumasi and observers in our livestream online. If you missed the event, there is an opportunity to re-watch the recording on our Facebook page anytime.
Four of the graduating teams originated from our Startup Weekend last year: Vert Power, who are producing eco-friendly biodigesters that convert kitchen waste to cooking gas, Waste-Tek who use old refrigerators to make chicken incubators for poultry production and Ilymar Kreations that are using textile wastes to produce household door mats. Additional teams of our second cohort were AP Verde Farms who produce aquaponic systems for fish and crop production, Cocozu who recycle coconut husks into various products, Plastikus Recycle Agency for the collection and sorting of plastic bottles and Style & Glamour who produce biodegradable packaging solutions from recycled paper. All of these teams were commended for their hard work in advancing their businesses these past months.
Additionally, some incubatees were recognized for special achievements: Ilyich from Ilymar Kreations received awards for attendance and timeliness while Doreen from Style & Glamour won the award for best entrepreneur.
The teams' pitches were rated by our professional jury, with 3 teams winning extra cash prizes for outstanding performance: Vert Power won third place and received an award of GHS 2,000. Cocozu on place two secured a cash prize of GHS 3,000 and our overall winning startup on place one, Style & Glamour Enterprise, went home with a check over GHS 5,000. But the journey is not yet over for these entrepreneurs - all startup teams will continue to receive extensive coaching and support through our Alumni Network.
For the remainder of this year, we'll have another Startup Weekend to source innovative ideas in November and will also open the applications for our third cohort this autumn. For more regular updates and insights, also make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. For any questions, feel free to send us a message on our social media profiles or an email to incubator@recycleupghana.org anytime
All the best,
the team at Recycle Up! Ghana
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