I’M IN, a program for aspiring entrepreneurs, has announced the start of its Ideation Incubator, a three-month program for women students with innovative ideas for tech start-ups.
The program’s goal is to give eligible women students an equity-free investment of R50,000 and help in the form of participation stipends, the cost of data and laptops, training in business skills, and access to the I’M IN ecosystem. You can complete an application for the program on the I’M IN website until Friday, May 12, 2023.
The program is only open to women students from seven schools in Gauteng. These schools are the University of Johannesburg (Soweto campus), Tshwane University of Technology, Vaal University of Technology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology, Wethinkcode, and Girl Code.
The program aims to get more people in underrepresented communities to use technology by giving them mentorship, advice, and a clear plan for getting funding.
It gives women students a unique chance to find ways to solve problems in their communities and contribute to the African tech ecosystem.
The first group of ideas to go through the Ideation Incubator will have 30 start-up ideas. Black women students with ideas for technology can apply for the program by going to http://www.imin.business and filling out a short form by May 12, 2023. Those who want to join can also email admin@imin.business with any questions.
Kevin Latter, senior country officer for Sub-Saharan Africa at J.P. Morgan, said, “Business ownership is an important avenue for wealth building across the world, yet equitable access to critical resources needed for business to grow and scale is limited. J.P. Morgan is pleased to be supporting I’M IN’s Ideation Incubator programme to help advance access to mentorship, capital, and other supportive resources to help close this gap for underserved women entrepreneurs in South Africa.”
I’M IN’s primary goal is to help early-stage technology start-ups become commercially sustainable by giving them pre-seed investments, practical business and technical support, and effective business and technical support. The program was initially aimed at businesses with a validated Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and a proven product-market fit. In 2021, an all-women pre-accelerator pilot was launched to help women entrepreneurs move from ideation to Proof of Concept (POC) or MVP.
Four women tech entrepreneurs were able to get to MVP with the help of the pilot. Lulaloop, cARscan, Zulzi, Droppa, BrandBook, Fixxr, and Lightbulb Education are all companies that have done well in I’M IN programs in the past.
