Up-and-coming entrepreneurs get a head start with startup education scholarships – NZ Entrepreneur Magazine
A new group of enterprising New Zealanders, callahan innovation and entrepreneurship education platform new zealand startups.
The initiative invites New Zealanders with ‘scalable and high growth’ business or social enterprise ideas to apply for scholarships and 60 successful applicants will receive free entry to the Startup NZ Entrepreneurship Programme. increase. The Startup NZ Entrepreneur Program is an online learning hub that introduces new entrepreneurs to the basics of ‘business’. The Lean Startup’ business building methodology.
In addition to receiving immediate help in navigating the difficult process of turning an idea into a viable business model, up-and-coming entrepreneurs, upon completion of the program, will be eligible for follow-on support and investment as needed. will be connected to local startup hubs and accelerator programs.
In its fourth year, the Startup NZ program will see over 400 Kiwi entrepreneurs benefit from free or highly subsidized learning opportunities after the current scholarship allocation.
Dr. Jenny Douché, Spokesperson for Callaghan Innovation Startup and Founder, commented on her support for the initiative, saying partnership with Startup NZ was a natural fit within the organization.
“Callaghan Innovation’s role is to build the capacity of startup founders, grow high potential startups and contribute to the quality and scale of the New Zealand startup ecosystem,” explains Douché.
Prior to joining Callaghan Innovation, Douché himself was a seasoned entrepreneur and startup mentor, highlighting the educational challenges faced by early-stage entrepreneurs.
“My experience, working with probably hundreds of startups, is that people are very product or market focused and this can affect the specific kinds of educational challenges they face. If they are product focused, they often have deep technical knowledge, but little knowledge of how the business works and the need for robust market validation. Often have a good understanding of customer problems, but rely heavily on the guidance and expertise of others, leading to a tendency to overspend or create overly complex technical solutions there is,” says Douchet.
“Callaghan Innovation chose to partner with the Startup NZ Entrepreneurs Program because we want to help very early stage founders have easy access to well-guided educational resources. It helps you determine if you have what it takes to be successful in your business, and if you do, it helps you develop a basic understanding of business fundamentals. As a result, founders are more self-service, so when they participate in one-on-one support, they become more focused and dedicated to making their startup successful.”
Richard Liew, founder of the Startup NZ program, says that for very early-stage business owners, providing meaningful guidance can be transformative, but that business mentors, city council business support teams and economic Agreed that it is not always easy or practical for those responsible, such as community members. development agency.
Drawing on his more than 20 years of experience building a business, Liew says solving the puzzle of early-stage support was key to launching the scholarship program.
“Most early-stage founders seek help when offered, but the challenge for mentors is that they don’t even have a solid business idea, let alone articulate it in terms of feasibility. How can we actually help a business model that is scalable?So the same precious mentoring time is already running a validated business model, with proven traction and self-development and It is often prioritized to support founders who can demonstrate their commitment to the venture through a track record of leadership ability,” Liu said.
Liu, who is also on the board of local startup hub Startup Queenstown Lakes, said support from agencies like Callahan Innovation has been huge in terms of expanding the entrepreneurial skills and understanding of New Zealand innovators. He said it made a difference.
“Like many other companies in the New Zealand startup ecosystem, we believe there is a clear role for government in fostering the development of collective entrepreneurial capital. The difficulty with this is that it is very difficult to “pick a winner,” so increasing the overall entrepreneurial capacity of founders at the grassroots level is the greatest opportunity. “
One such founder is Adam Townsend, co-founder of a global bike parts and API startup. bike matrixreceived a scholarship for the Startup NZ program in 2022.
Townsend, who has built his business out of Rotorua, said his participation in the program helped him move from the idea stage to preparing for funding in the months ahead.
Mr Townsend said: “This course gave me a great overview. There was a good balance between providing answers and the questions I needed to go to find answers. As a result of this course, as a founder It has made it clearer what we need to focus on.”
Founders with scalable, high-growth business ideas can apply for Startup NZ scholarships today. https://startup.nzentrepreneur.co.nz/pages/2023-scholarshipsor through participating startup hubs and economic development agencies.
https://nzentrepreneur.co.nz/budding-entrepreneurs-receive-a-head-start-with-startup-education-scholarships/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=budding-entrepreneurs-receive-a-head-start-with-startup-education-scholarships Up-and-coming entrepreneurs get a head start with startup education scholarships – NZ Entrepreneur Magazine