Dhiraagu, UNDP and Enterprise Development (Ministry of Economic Development) announce Techstars Startup Weekend , powered by Google for Entrepreneurs.

The Startup Weekend will be held in October this year and purposed with inspiring and developing young entrepreneurs. The call for applications will be communicated at a later date.The format is divided into two parts; the first includes networking, which involves team building and mentoring where participants group themselves with other participants who can potentially develop and fine tune a business idea they have. The second includes learning from mentors assigned to each team, pitching potential business ideas and prototyping the ideas into the product or service pitched.

The Startup Weekend is a great opportunity for young people to develop their entrepreneurial skills, learn the basics of developing innovative ideas that may be transformed into workable business models and in 54 hours, they would understand the rigours and discipline required to work within set timeframes and learn the value of teamwork.  This would also be the first time that an international initiative to support and nurture the growth of starts up would be undertaken in Maldives.

To foster new ideas and innovation and also support new and emerging Startup business ideas in the Maldives, it is very important to nurture and create a culture for new entrepreneurs. Dhiraagu’s role in the Startup Weekend stems from the company’s focus on providing opportunities for young people to realize their full potential through learning, innovation and doing.

With this programme, Dhiraagu, UNDP and Enterprise Development will be the main contributors to pioneer the Startup revolution in Maldives.  Startup Weekend is a model developed by Techstars powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, who have successfully run the model in over 140 countries. Dhiraagu and UNDP have been closely collaborating on a number of initiatives over the course of the year including the Youth Leadership Program and the currently ongoing Film For Change.