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Test Drive is here!! Up and running!

The application period of the 1st edition of Turbine Test Drive program ended on the 17th of September 2018. After thorough screening, 31 start-up projects were selected out of 62 applicants. The projects are in various fields namely agriculture, financial technology, education, Leisure and hospitality, services, retail, digital technology, wellness, social, environment, bio-technologies, manufacturing and transport services.

Why we launched Test Drive?

The Test Drive program is an initiative of Turbine to help entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to get the necessary tools to work on their business idea and assess their potential.

Diane Maigrot, the General Manager of Turbine, speaks of this initiative as an effort to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Mauritius.

Why bring this initiative to the Mauritian market?

“Many Mauritians have business ideas but don’t really have the know how of where and how to begin. The Test Drive Program consists of 3 evening sessions where professionals and experts provide tools, tips and advice to enable selected applicants to work on their respective project. Participants will be able to draft a business plan and prepare a Pitch for the final day where investors and business angels can opt to invest in their project if they need funding.”

How would Test Drive help the participants?

“The first session of the Test Drive allows each participant to draft a business lean canvas which is the modern business plan. The participant will think of his/her solution, the problem it is solving, the existing alternatives, the unique value proposition of his/her product, the key metrics and the channels.

On the 2nd workshop, financial experts will help participants develop their revenue model (income,costs of product, expenses, profit, loss ..) and their milestone plan. This pushes them to think about where they want to be in 12 months or 24 months? Depending on their ambition, they prescribe themselves the actions that they need to take, write it down in a plan and stay focus on their goals.

The 3rd evening is the “sales technique” and the “How to Pitch”, since the best way to finance a startup is to have customers.

There will be various tips available to help start-ups understand how to approach customers, understand their needs and convince them of having a solution that will soothe their pains.

The “Pitch” is one of the best ways to make an impression and convince investors, there is also a methodology that you receive during the Test Drive.

Our expert will provide a bunch of free useful start-up tools to the participants and will also give insights about “story telling“. Famous startups received their first investments because they have proven to have thousand of followers on social media page who liked their story!”

What is the objective of Turbine behind this initiative?

“Our organization’s goal is to enhance the level of start-ups in Mauritius and help them launch successfully and sustainably. In compliance to our vision, mission and objectives, Test Drive has for aim to help us recruit the best projects for our Incubation Program which is a 12 months support program where participants receive weekly business coaching, access to 6 months of free co-working at our premises in Vivéa, business exposure, networking opportunities, workshops and 30 hours of experts advice such as legal, financial, marketing and communication.

Turbine bears all the cost of the above. In return, we take 10% of equity in each startup we incubate and as we are a non for profit organization, when we start making profit out of these shares in 5 or 10 years, this money will be re-invested to help and support the next generation of Entrepreneurs. The success of one incubated start-up will help others in developing their business ideas!

The second edition of Turbine Test Drive is scheduled in February and we hope to recruit 10 to 15 startups by then of June 2019!”

The workshops

The Test drive program consists of 3 workshops with experts and 1 pitch day. The workshops are about various necessary tools and know how that start-ups needs to be equipped with to best launch their business. The participants will also be prepared to draft their pitch for the final day and present their respective business to a panel of investors, business angels and Turbine’s partners. This program is made in collaboration of ENL Group, Compass Venture Capital, the Mauritius Research Council, Spoon Consulting, DodoWorkPlay, Pongo.IO, Alinae Consulting, Circus, ICT.IO, Rogers Captial and OXO.

About Turbine

Turbine is a non for profit start-up incubator, accelerator and co-working space based in Mauritius. They support entrepreneurs in building successful and sustainable businesses. Turbine believe that by building a start-up community in the Indian Ocean, a more inclusive and sustainable future is created for everyone. Turbine is a wholly owned subsidiary of ENL Group and works closely with STING, a leading Swedish incubator with over 15 years of experience with start-ups. Turbine has many other activities and events to promote the entrepreneurial ecosystem and has network even in other African countries. You can find more details on their website turbine.mu and social media pages Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Turbine recently announced the launch of its pre-incubation program, the Test Drive 2018 for business ideas, and it promises to be the ultimate event for aspiring entrepreneurs. Over the past couple of years Turbine has been building an ecosystem of disruptive entrepreneurs in Mauritius as a primary objective. As a result the business incubator has launched many initiatives; one of which is the Test Drive 2018.

SO WHAT IS THIS PRE-INCUBATION PROGRAM?

Generally, a pre-incubation program is designed to prepare start-ups

Test Drive program runs over four evenings. It consists of 3 workshops carefully designed to give aspiring entrepreneurs a maximum number of tools that will enable them to transform their business idea into a concrete start-up. On the first night, participants will attend talks and hands on ateliers where they are brought to strategically think, analyze and improve their ideas. The second evening will help them envisage what their expected outcomes should be, it will be done under close supervision of local industry experts in order to ensure that realistic and achievable goals are being set. This will prepare start-ups for the third night, when they will develop their sales techniques and learn how to pitch in front of investors.

The fourth night is when participants are brought to put all the skills and tools learnt during the previous sessions to use: its pitch night! Aspiring start-ups present their ideas and projects in front of potential investors.

WHAT DOES THIS IMPLY?

Programs like the Test Drive are a crucial part of promoting entrepreneurship in Mauritius. The implication here is simple yet very powerful: The more people are empowered to launch startups, the more successful businesses will be launched. Successful businesses grow and create employment which in turn contributes to a healthier national economy.

Other than that, businesses that Turbine promotes are innovative: They aim to address issues that are not currently being tackled and this means that the population in general benefits from solutions to problems they face in their day to day life that they did not previously have access to.

WHAT’S THE HYPE?

The hype here is simply that there are no such programs open to the public freely. This year, Turbine has surpassed its previous efforts to truly deliver the best possible workshops by partnering up with local industry experts.

Apply to the Test Drive here!

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The Turbine Test Drive 2018 for start-ups is here!