Supporting Cambodian enterprises to validate and strengthen their business idea
We empower Cambodian entrepreneurs to make their businesses truly viable. Join the program and have access to a personal mentor and the most complete incubation tools for early-stage founders!
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What is IDEA APP Cambodia EIP?
IDEA App Cambodia EIP is an Enterprise Incubation Program initiated by Khmer Enterprise in partnership with UNIDO Cambodia through implementation of a UN joint program on the “Decent Employment for Youth in Cambodia” funded by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). IDEA App Cambodia EIP is an incubation program that falls under the big umbrella of the IDEA App Programs, created and developed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Bridge for Billions across 9 other countries.
Together with Khmer Enterprises, we are excited to announce the IDEA APP Cambodia Enterprise Incubation Program, with an aim to make entrepreneurial education accessible to Cambodian startups and SMEs in order to create employment and ensure sustainable economic growth in the country.
This program will recruit 30 early-stage enterprises developing business ideas in the following sectors: Tourism or Services, Agriculture, Light Manufacturing, and Information & Communications Technology (ICT).
As a selected entrepreneur, you will benefit from the 5-month online incubation program to further develop the viability of your venture. The program will also offer you the confidence and certainty of validated business ideas from potential clients. After the completion of the program, you will receive a customized executive summary of your business plan and present it to potential investors or new co-founders.
During the program, there will be selected mentors to support your journey weekly. At the same time you are working on the fundamental aspects of your business with a learning-by-doing methodology. In this way, you can make business ideas a reality!
Why participate?
Proven Methodology
You will follow a step-by-step methodology, working directly on your business and making the most important decisions with the support from the mentor. You will also be able to visualize your financial projections, growth, and impact plan for the next 3 years.
Find your Mentor
You’ll be matched with a professional to personally guide you in weekly mentoring sessions, to further the business grow in the right direction.
Global community
Become a part of a supportive community of founders globally that share resources and harness challenges together.
Experience Active Learning
The platform is equipped with an approach inspired by MIT's Disciplined Entrepreneurship and you will design an executive summary, which you can present in front of investors.
Anytime, Anywhere
Collaborating with your team from anywhere at any time through a fully integrated online platform; no barriers, limits, or excuses; just an internet connection.
Exclusive perks
Having access to exclusive events + more than 30K in discounts on HubSpot, Amazon WS, Google Suite, MailJet, IBM
This program is perfect for you if…
- You are an early-stage Cambodian business founder.
- You are able to communicate in Khmer with a basic understanding of English Business Terminology
- You have a business idea being materialized or MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or an early established business is related to the following sectors: Tourism and Services, Agriculture, Light Manufacturing, and Information & Communications Technology (ICT).
- You are committed to finish the program and further grow your business.
- You are a founder with passion and willing to dedicate 8 hours per week for the duration of the 5-month program.
- You at least hold a secondary studies, vocational training school or equivalent.
- You own a computer, tablet or smartphone with a reliable and stable internet connection (this is a full online program).
Deadline to apply
Program timeline
Entrepreneurs applications
Apply by following the button on this page. Once your account is created you will have to follow two steps: 1) Creating your profile; and 2) Applying to the IDEA App Cambodia EIP by describing your entrepreneurial project.
Announcement of Selected Entrepreneurs
We will review all the applications and we will select 45 entrepreneurs to participate in this edition of the program.
Attend the onboarding session
If selected, you will be invited to an onboarding to the program, a session where you'll meet your cohort, understand how you can get matched with a mentor, how to use the incubation platform, its methodology, and much more!
Mentors and Entrepreneurs Matching
Take part in our matching process! You will have the opportunity to meet online with volunteer mentors. Once you have met several of them, both you and the mentors will submit your rankings in order to let us know who you think will be the best fit for your project's needs. Based on the rankings, we will make the best mentor-mentee pairs.
The Incubation Phase starts!
Welcome! Now you are ready to begin a 5-month incubation period to continue developing your business.
- Follow our online curriculum with 8 modules to build a robust value proposition and business strategy for your venture.
- Meet weekly with your personal mentor on one-to-one online sessions to get a fresh perspective and make sure you're in the right direction.
- Attend online group meetings to meet the rest of the program's entrepreneurs and work on the soft and business skills needed to grow as an entrepreneur.
These are other founders who participated in other IDEA App Programs
This program was the first one I participated in, it was a very powerful and valuable test for me. The interesting thing is that while participating in this program, I was able to understand where I was going, because I started one way, and many things changed during my work as a result. I now have a completely new way of doing things and a new approach to my project and where it’s going. This was possible only by working with all these tools. I just want to say thank you for the opportunity.”
Founder of Language Republic
First of all, I would like to thank the program managers of Bridge for Billions and UNIDO for allowing me to participate in this program. I learned what I did not know from my business plan. Even though I have decided to postpone the launch of my project, I now have a goal, and I hope it will become a reality one day. By participating in this incubation program, I gained experience by imagining my day-to-day operations in what would be my dream project, valuable knowledge, I developed my reasoning skills, and I have grown my desire to implement my idea. Thank you.”
Founder of My Sweets
IDEA App was an exceptional experience, an effective platform, mentors available, what more could you ask for to be successful. “
Founder of Aoudy Food
During the incubation program and the meetings with my mentor, I was quick to realize that I have a very good mentor; a ready, direct, willing person, armed with knowledge and experience, who is busy but has found time to help me jointly develop my business plan. I truly value and appreciate the contacts I established with people along the program. To me that’s already a great achievement.”
Founder of Autumn Violet
The IDEA App platform at a glance
As the backbone of the program, the IDEA App platform offers a gamified and step by step experience that allows entrepreneurs to create their business plans and validate their model. Far from theory, the pedagogy pushes you to formulate your ideas and answer the tough questions.
It invites you to “get out there”, talk to people, research, and validate your ideas. Your mentor will be there for you every week to support you by challenging assumptions and offering a fresh perspective.
Ready to start?
Do you have any questions?
The more time you’re able to put in, the better the results! We’ve structured the program so that you should be able to complete all activities within 8 hours per week (including a 1h video call with your mentor), but there are always opportunities for you to go deeper and spend more time on each stage to significantly develop and validate your ideas. If you can’t commit to at least 8 hours per week over 5 months, this probably isn’t the program for you. You can also divide some of the work with other people on your team (if any).
You will need to be able to use a laptop or desktop computer (not tablet or smartphone) and preferably one of these browsers: Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox. We expect you to have a strong, reliable internet connection both for your online work on the platform and to participate in the mentors calls via video conference.
Of course! Our program was made for collaboration with your entire team. You can easily invite your teammates to join your project and seamlessly collaborate on its development. You can work at the same time as a teammate, but note, however, that our platform does not allow for live collaboration as with google docs – you will only see a teammates edits after refreshing the page and you should be careful not to “override” one another’s inputs.
We hope that our reputation speaks for itself on this topic. We treat your application & program data as confidential information. They are protected by our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, and your mentor will also sign a Mentorship Agreement that includes a confidentiality clause.
Once accepted to the program you will enter the “matching” phase, 10-15 days dedicated to finding the perfect mentor match for you. During matching, basic information about your project will be accessible to our community of mentors and they will invite you to initial meetings so you can get to know each other. You can attend as many meetings as you want, but eventually you will have to choose your preferred mentor.
The process of matching is one where you as entrepreneurs must be active participants by answering mentors’ invitations and letting us know how your meetings go within the indicated deadlines. We send all accepted entrepreneurs the important dates and deadlines of the matching process that should be respected. A consistent lack of response from an entrepreneur will be taken as a lack of interest in the program and can lead to their acceptance being revoked.
Your mentor is your guide throughout the program, someone who can understand the ins and outs of your business and, week after week, help you validate your strategy for each critical stage, from better targeting your customers to having a 3 years growth plan. Mentors support you through collaboration on the platform as well as in-person video chats once a week.
Can’t find your question here?
Connect directly with IDEA App Cambodia EIP Program Manager Catherina Vecchione.
