OYA IDEA App is a 4-month incubation program to empower Kenyan and Zambian agro-entrepreneurs to make their businesses truly viable. Get access to a personal mentor and the most complete incubation tools for early-stage founders.
As part of Opportunities for Youth in Africa (OYA), a programme created to accelerate job creation in the agri-food sector, OYA IDEA App will incubate 30 agripreneurs in Kenya and Zambia.
OYA IDEA App is a four month intensive online incubation programme designed specifically for Kenyan and Zambian agripreneurs with a business concept who are looking for mentorship and coaching to successfully develop and grow their business.
This programme is made possible by the collaboration of UNIDO, the FAO, the Italian Cooperation and Bridge for Billions.
2400+ entrepreneurs from 90 countries have gone through the program!
You’ll be partnered with a professional to personally guide you so that your project grows in the right direction.
Become a part of a supportive community of founders globally that share resources and harness challenges together.
The programme offers a learn-by-doing approach inspired by MIT's Disciplined Entrepreneurship and you'll get to generate a final business plan.
Collaborate from anywhere at any time through our online platform; no barriers, limits, or excuses; just an internet connection.
Access to exclusive events + more than 30K in discounts on HubSpot, Amazon WS, Google Suite, MailJet, IBM...
Friday, 12th of November 2021
Apply by following the button on this page. Once your accout created you will have to follow two steps: 1) Creating your profile; and 2) Applying to the OYA programme by describing your entrepreneurial project.
Please apply from a computer or tablet and not smartphone.
We will review all the applications and we will select 30 entrepreneurs to participate in this edition of the programme.
If selected, you will be invited to an onboarding to the programme, a session where you'll meet your cohort, understand how you can get matched with a mentor, how to use the IDEA App incubation platform, its methodology and much more.
"Matching" in IDEA App is a fun process in which you get to meet several volunteer business mentors and decide which one is the best fit for you. During 2 weeks you'll have 30min initial meeting with several mentors, and you will eventually rank them by order or preference. We'll then finalize who is your final "match": the one mentor who will guide you all along the programme.
Begin a 4 month incubation period to continue developing your startup.
IDEA App is a program that has helped me a lot and taught me a lot about my project. I thank the whole team. Without IDEA App, I would never have been able to get by. “
Founder of AD Company
IDEA App was an exceptional experience, an effective platform, mentors available, what more could you ask for to be successful. “
Founder of Aoudy Food
IDEA App allowed me to have a clearer vision of my activity in the years to come, but also to know the expenses and the income that I must realize in the next 2 years, it also helped me to define the services that I intend to put in place for the expansion of my activity. Thank you to the whole team for this great experience and especially to my mentor Sarah. “
Founder of Yaleen
As the backbone of the programme, the IDEA App plaftorm 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.
At the end of the 4 months, you will get your personal Certificate of Incubation that certifies that you have received 150+ hours of entrepreneurship education and mentorship on those topics: value proposition, competitors mapping, identification of key stakeholders, business modelling, marketing, pricing strategies, financial forecasting, impact planning and growth strategy.
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 4 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 Julie, Program Manager, to ask her in writing or in a quick meeting. Whenever you see fit!
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