{"id":1029,"date":"2014-08-17T21:56:37","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T13:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.innovationiseverywhere.com\/?p=1029"},"modified":"2014-08-17T21:56:37","modified_gmt":"2014-08-17T13:56:37","slug":"corporate-innovation-series-3-mest-incubator-ghana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovationiseverywhere.com\/fr\/corporate-innovation-series-3-mest-incubator-ghana\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate innovation series #3: MEST incubator in Ghana"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the Mobile West Africa conference in Lagos, we’ve met with Neal Hansch<\/a>, the managing director of the MEST incubator<\/a><\/strong> in Ghana. The program is a 24-month incubation for African startups<\/strong>, and its history is quite interesting as we explore the different forms of corporate innovation.<\/p>\n

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MEST Incubator: training West Africa’s entrepreneurs on the long-run<\/h2>\n

First, because it was founded in 2008<\/strong> (and even planned in 2007), which is pretty early. As we travel across several emerging markets, something we noticed is that, from Hong Kong<\/a> to Nairobi<\/a>, many of these new tech scenes started somewhere between 2008 and 2010, and it’s not usual that a big company would be present so early.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With such an early foot in a nascent startup ecosystem, they guarantee themselves an influential relationship with high potential future founders and entrepreneurs<\/strong> (as one can expect the first batches of incubees will turn into mentors).\u00a0As investors say sometimes, you bet on entrepreneurs when you think about their next venture.<\/p>\n

\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ghana<\/strong> is often mentioned as one of four African countries with innovation potential alongside Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya<\/strong>, at least when it comes to startups, so it makes sense for a media company like Meltwater<\/a> to be there. The group itself is a media company with 900 employees and a presence in 26 countries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The long-run vision of MEST incubator makes it original in the world of incubators, with incubation durations going from 12 to 24 months<\/strong>, and several stages. They also adapt to the local needs of entrepreneurs, and provide everything, from food to housing<\/strong>, for the Entrepreneurs in Training and the incubees.<\/p>\n

\"meltwater<\/a><\/p>\n

As its founder says, \u201cMEST is the worlds earliest early stage startup<\/strong>. We invest in people even before they know how to programme or have even touched a computer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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A bridge for startups to go\u00a0from Africa to the United States<\/h2>\n

When they began in 2008, the first batch was actually made of so-called\u00a0Entrepreneurs In Training, or EiT, to stress on the effect of launching a wave of entrepreneurs in the country through the incubator. Only two years later, in 2010, do the first EiT graduate, and MEST launches a funding possibility for these alumni.<\/p>\n

In 2011, they record a first success as Nandimobile<\/a><\/strong>, a MEST incubated company,\u00a0gets an award at the Launch Festival<\/strong> in the United States.<\/p>\n