The Turbine’s INSPIRE 2017 program ended on Friday, December 8 with a great evening dedicated to the pitches of the 15 selected projects.
3 weeks and 7 training and coaching sessions later, the 15 teams selected in the Turbine’s Inspire program took part in a crucial and complex exercise on Friday: pitching their start-up to an audience of entrepreneurs and investors.
Each team had a few minutes to convince. The audience of connoisseurs was able to judge the relevance and viability of the start-ups presented. Thanks to the knowledge, tools and experiences shared by local entrepreneurs and 2 coaches from the Swedish incubator Sting (Stockholm Innovation & Growth), we heard entrepreneurs able to talk about business model, investments or marketing plan.
When interviewed halfway through the program, participants told us how useful the learning, practice and encounters provided by the Inspire program were in their entrepreneurial adventure.
“We were encouraged to test our idea in the field by meeting our potential customers directly. We were also guided on the type of questions to ask to get useful feedback for our further development.”
“We learned a lot from the training session on sales techniques. It all starts with understanding your potential customers, if you don’t understand them, the product or service offered won’t work.”
“Inspire is not just about coaching, it is about discovering the experiences of successful entrepreneurs. They share their experiences from the field and you really understand what it means to be an entrepreneur in Mauritius. I understood that the road to success is not straightforward, but that there are ups and downs along the way.”
Developing e-commerce in Mauritius, fighting against food waste, facilitating travel for Mauritian workers, developing sustainable agriculture, offering wellness and meditation holidays, enabling medical students to be more efficient thanks to virtual reality, promoting ecotourism in Mauritius… The 15 projects have shown that if there are still challenges to be met in Mauritius, solutions are well and truly on the way!
Business Model Canvas, NABC approach, Team Building, communication techniques, budget, networking and now pitch… Participants have all the keys in hand to really launch their start-up!
