The Jury of Unitel Creative Camp
The projects chosen by the jury members, which included Unitel T+ Directory Board, the event’s promoter, BIC—Business Incubation Center, Cabo Verde Digital, Business Angels, and the Institute for Work and Professional Training (IEFP), among representatives from other enterprises, brought forward innovative solutions associated with Tourism, as well as other key sectors, essential for Cape Verde’s social and economic development, such as Agriculture, Health, Sports, and Culture.
“We are dealing with solutions that address many of the difficulties we are facing in the Cape Verdean market”, claimed Inoweze Ferreira, Unitel T+ General Manager, at the closing gala. “These solutions will be able to connect the needs of local consumers with the needs of those who visit Cape Verde”, he said.
During his intervention, Ferreira urged young entrepreneurs to make mistakes, “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It is necessary to normalise mistakes. Make as many mistakes as necessary, just don’t give up”, he encouraged.
The final evaluation included the mentors’ presence, who shared their knowledge and guidance with the young people over several days. Various entrepreneurs, potential investors in the business ideas that were presented, were also in attendance.
What comes next
At the closing and awards ceremony, it became apparent that numerous national and international entrepreneurs were excited to support the young start-ups, in their prototype development process and also in the ‘go-to-market’ strategy.
Some investors are prepared to commit large sums of money to help the different start-ups get off the ground and turn their ideas into sustainable and solid businesses. Expressions of interest ranged from two hundred thousand escudos to one million Cape Verdean Escudos (CVE).
The IEFP Institute additionally presented one of the winning start-ups with 200 thousand CVE worth of technical equipment, to help develop their business.
We respect the wishes of the event’s promoter and refrain from sharing additional details about each individual business idea because they will soon enter the Cape-Verdean business market as new technological innovation companies.
We are, however, able to reveal that the winning projects include the creation of a dating app, smart payment solutions, and innovation in the agricultural sector with the use of sensors, robots, and drones. Digital tourism itineraries, tools to help with medical emergencies, as well as virtual reality systems, among others, are also expected to be created.
