Let’s turn these ideas into Prototypes, shall we?
Written by Nice Charles Msangi
Right after the judging and selection, 20 teams, 10 from each Isle (Pemba & Unguja) got to the Bootcamp.
Wait! How did we get to the Bootcamp?
The entire journey of the project and how it commenced is well articulated here.
Fast Foward to the Bootcamp;
AMUA Zanzibar Bootcamp was a bit different from the other AMUA Accelerator cohorts. Due to the geographical setting in Zanzibar, we had two Bootcamps, 1 in Unguja that took place from 31st March to 8th April 2022, and another one in Pemba that took place from 9th May to 18th May 2022.
Bootcamp is the 10 days of extensive training and mentorship supporting youth to build Ideas into Prototypes. At the end of 10 days of mentorship, the teams are expected to have a prototype and pitch deck presented to the judges.
Unguja Bootcamp
10 teams attended the Bootcamp, 3 people on each team making 30 people participated in the training. The gender distribution was 40/60, 12 were male and 18 female. From this, we learned how women in Unguja seem more engaging on social issues compared to men.
Another thing that we learned from Unguja Bootcamp was that the teams were open to adopting the changes on SRH issues against the existing cultures concerning SRH.
The 10 teams were; Imara Afya Belt, Mobile Tent, DEKA, Hakiki Portal, Funzo, Maskani plus, Solve it, M-konnect, and Flexi Tights.
Pemba Bootcamp
In Pemba, things were a bit different. 10 teams were selected for the training, 2 dropped along the way and 8 teams fought to the end. We had 27 people participate, 15 were male and 12 were female.
Well, every geographical setting comes with its learning. In Pemba teams were not open to learning about the SRHR issues, it reached a point the participant paused the trainer from speaking about SRH because their culture does not allow it.
The 8 teams that went through the training and Mentoring sessions in Pemba were Maumivu Basi group, Film Reach, Binti house, Zanzibar Essential, Smart Saiko, Soft Sana, Male Hub, and LYFC.
What happens
Let me take you through the skill learned during the Bootcamp, Well, at least a snippet of it;
Team building activity
It is believed Startups with strong teams have a better chance to execute the ideas than startups with strong ideas but weak teams. Through different games and other activities, the team identifies the character and strength of each member of the Team
Problem Identification (Analysis).
The activity was aimed at equipping the teams with the ability to identify problems and deep dive into understanding the root causes of the problem and the specific group of people affected by the problem.
Ideation
This process helps them to understand their ideas further, and understand key questions that their ideas and projects need to answer e.g The problem they are trying to solve, the relevance of the solution, key metrics, unique value proposition, unfair advantage, customer segment, channels, and revenue streams.
Product Testing and Customer Validation
Helping the teams to understand the needs of the beneficiaries of the solution they are bringing, they go through the customer discovery process. The team talks with actual users (beneficiaries) of the solutions and gets their feedback.
User-Centered Design and Prototyping
This activity was looking at helping the startup teams visualize and design their solutions. Teams also started to do rapid prototyping of their ideas and projects and received feedback from the mentor responsible for designing the solutions and prototyping them
Deep Diving Into The SRH Sector & HIV Overview (Challenges and Opportunities)
The startup teams deep dive into the SRH sector problem they are trying to address while working with mentors in individual teams. Providing SRHR awareness to all participants is necessary for their understanding. The aim is to let them acquainted with the sector that they are working in from an overview angle.
Preparing Presentations and Pitching Session
The last activity of the Bootcamp was to prepare the pitches. The startup was to prepare 5 minutes pitches about their products (services) on which they were presented to the judges and receive feedback. The pitches were focused on the problem they were trying to solve, the solutions they were providing, and the strengths of their team
Pitch Wars and the way forward
The 18 teams that went through the training and mentoring sessions pitched in front of the judges, Using judging criteria guidance, 8 teams were selected to get in the Acceleration stage.
From Pemba the teams that got to the next stage were; Binti house, Zanzibar Essential, Smart Saiko, and Soft Sana.
From Unguja the four teams selected to get to the next stage were Hakiki Portal, Funzo, Maskani plus, and Solve it.
