Startup Weekend is heading to Harare in May, gathering together people for one marathon event to formulate and flesh out new, tech-based entrepreneurial ideas.
The event will take place from 16 – 18 May at Hypercube, a new space designed to foster and support new tech ideas that is also co-organising the weekend alongside Mercy Corps.
The weekend will will centre around the motto of “No Limits”, encouraging Zimbabweans to leverage the talent that exists locally in Harare. The weekend is designed to help foster the sharing of ideas and to develop new technologies that can transcend the growing sense of socio-economic isolation Zimbabwe has experienced in the past decade, getting youth plugged into networks of developers and tech entrepreneurs in other parts of Africa and beyond.
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 as it is related to tech in Zimbabwe. Specifically, the project aims to invite the participation of young people and women: youth unemployment in Zimbabwe makes up 70 percent of the official 80 percent unemployment rate in Zimbabwe.
Leaders in the tech, business and start-up communities will be there to provide hands-on leadership will be provided to help the teams develop their ideas throughout the weekend and guide them in ways to sustain their efforts after the event.
The winners will be eligible to win valuable vouchers to help you grow your business online from Google, .Co and Amazon Web Services, a three-month accelerator programme with Hypercube, smart phones, tablets as well as financial and business development opportunities.
People looking to participate will have a chance to refine their pitches prior to the event itself by taking part in a preparatory Boot Camp on 10 May, This warm up event is open to all registered participants and will allow them to identify open source and other technologies, and connect with would-be customers to validate their ideas before the main event.
Looking to take part? Head to the website for more information or register here.
RESET is a media partner of Startup Weekend Harare.
