How iCode’s New Coworking Space Will Nurture Takoradi’s Startups

Not much happens outside Accra and Kumasi when it comes to tech startups, tech development, etc. Earlier this year, gharage covered iCode and its founder Prince Smart Bonney, who is poised promoting tech and startup development to Takoradi and its environs. So far, Prince has only started iCode and hopes to do more. When we visited in August, he was yet to find a new space after running the program at his home for some time. Great news, iCode has a new home now, which was launched just in the past 2 weeks.

iCode, built with a lot of mentoring from iSpace founders, has over the past year been looking to sponsors for its programs. Prince wants to run a sustainable and welcoming coworking space for folks in the community who want to work out of home in an affordable, well-run and productive environment.

For starters, iCode offers its members a coworking space with meeting rooms, a general meeting area, internet access, provides coffee for the early-birds and even goes further to provide lunch if you stick around longer. iCode adds these extra amenities to increase collaboration between the community members and provide a space for all to work from.

Among its key offerings, iCode offers members access to funding from organisations that are looking to invest in early-stage startups. It also hopes to connect these startups with work opportunities from companies or individuals looking to hire members for a quick job, or even permanent jobs. With such a coworking space, iCode will also host events which it looks forward to subsidise for its members.

For all these, iCode charges members GHS50 per month! With sponsorship from MTN and other partners, the space runs on a good internet connection to help them do great work. Prince himself has been involved in some work in community towards capacity building. In September this year, he, with support from a few organisations run a Founders’ Day program on Volunteering for some 500+ youth in the Dixcove community.

Beyond the coworking space, Prince and his team still engage students from nearby schools to help them understand the basics of software development, to fulfil the passion of passing on knowledge and to empower them for the job market, or entrepreneurship.

iCode currently has 120 members its looking to give the opportunity to grow through capacity building programs, enabling a platform for opportunities and providing jobs for members where possible. The main goal is to create an enabling environments for these members to build startups, expand their reach and even go on to employ more youth in the community.

This new coworking space has come at quite an apt time as it will help provide a shelter and a resource for youth in the community who may need some hand-holding to help them become better iCode members, and even better role models for other young people in the Western Region.

Originally published at gharage.