Start-Up Weekend 2020

Recycle Up Ghana has on the 20th November 2020 organised a two day Start-Up weekend programme  to bring together young people who have the motivation to start a business and facilitate them through an innovation process to develop a business idea.

The Start-Up weekend had 20 young entrepreneurs participating to develop 10 businesses that promote circular economy.

At the Startup Weekend, entrepreneurs were taken through introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Circular Economy and various innovation processes like problem framing, problem-solution fit, empathy mapping, value proposition canvas, Business Model canvas and pitching.

The ideas developed were:

VERT POWER:

Producing bio-digesters to convert kitchen waste to gas for cooking

VARA WUDIU:

Converting dry grasses to animal feed

WASTEK:

Using old refrigerators to make chicken incubators for poultry production.

ECOPLAST:

Collection and segregation of wastes

MATSAMNA:

Using organic wastes for compost making

AGRIVAL:

Using coconut husks to produce Charcoal briquette

SUPREME BIO:

Producing biogas from organic wastes

ILYMA KREATION:

Using textile wastes to produce door mat

UPG:

Wastes segregation

ORGAFIT:

Uses of food waste to produce compost as an organic fertilizer to farmers which is of no harm to aquatic life in-case runoff happens

The weekend was culminated by a pitching event which was opened to the general public to attend. This event was also used to launch the second cohort of the recycle Up! Incubator program which will commence from January 2021. All teams had the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of Judges for the opportunity to secure an automatic spot in the upcoming incubator program. The Judging panel was presided over by Maurice Caschinco from Kumasi Hive, Adwoa Fosua from Women’s Haven Africa, Frederick Acquah from SNV and Nele Lahrmann from Connected Dots Impacts and Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. At the end of the pitching event, three winners were selected from the independent panel of judges. 

The three winning ideas were:   

1. Wastek:

   Was the overall winner. They took home a cash prize of two thousand cedis to support their business.

2. Varawudiu

3. Vert Power

    

The winners got an automatic admission into a six month incubation program with Recycle Up! Ghana to develop their businesses.

The event recorded 40 young participants from all regions of Ghana, the presence of coaches and Judges from NBU, Women’s Haven Africa, Kumasi Hive and SNV Ghana.

Michael Awanah is Chief Executive Officer of WASTEK.

“We convert electronic waste into the production of incubators for poultry farmers in the Northern Region. We were clueless on how to go about our business previously. Recycle Up Ghana helped us shape our thoughts, processes and ideas about our business.

“I am grateful to be part of Recycle Up Ghana. We have had a series of training elsewhere, but we gained broader knowledge with Recycle Up Ghana.

The initiative is supported by the Afrilabs Capacity Building Award Program in collaboration with Digital Africa, AFDfrance  and Brot fuer die Weit.