The three day event, which is set to merge entrepreneurs, business people and those in the technology industry aims at encouraging the development and support of new technological ideas and provide an opportunity for young people to see their dreams become a reality.
Tawanda Mudzonga, Start- up Weekend Press and Liaison Officer, said the event provided a global platform for aspiring entrepreneurs to create new opportunities for their growth in a challenging environment.
“This is a unique opportunity for Zimbabwean entrepreneurs. We realised that there are many young people who do not have many options in terms of employment and without adequate resources which is why we decided to host this event,” she said.
Mudzonga said expectations are that the event will draw participation from all over Zimbabwe.
“We have advertised the event as much as we could and we are happy that we have people with innovative ideas that are coming to participate.
“This shows that they have ideas but they do not have the opportunities to develop them and make them grow and create sustainable business plans,” she said.
Mudzonga said Start- up Weekend aims at forging synergies and alliances between emerging entrepreneurs and business people as a mentoring strategy to help them see their dreams become a lived reality.
“This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs whose ideas were otherwise failing to be visible to become realities. Start- up Weekend merges those with the ideas and business to develop their ideas and make them sustainable business ventures,” said Mudzonga.
She said when used correctly, technology can be an avenue for marketing one’s product and innovative idea.
She added: “It is possible to marry business with technology.
Aspiring entrepreneurs can use technology to further their ideas and ensure that they can reach more people if their business idea is connected to the internet.”
Mudzonga said that there was over $80, 000 worth of prizes and the winner of the grand prize would walk away with $30, 000.
“We are not going to be giving away cash prizes only because we realised that the temptation for the winners to use this money for other things is very high.
“Some of the prizes…include legal counselling, mentoring, software and internet access, among a host of other awards,” said Mudzonga.
Funded by Google for Entrepreneurs, Startup Weekend stands as the single largest starting point for new entrepreneurs around the world.
In Zimbabwe, the event was organised by Hypercube in conjunction with Mercy Corps.
Startup Weekend has hosted over 1,000 events in over 110 different countries to date, reaching over 100,000 entrepreneurs and creating 13,000 Startup teams.
The event is open to the participation of anyone with a new, innovative idea, particularly those related to technology in Zimbabwe.
Post published in: News