Serekunda, The Gambia – The Global Entrepreneurship Network is excited to announce the opening of a new Startup Huddle chapter in Serekunda, the Gambia to support the growth of the local startup community while crowdsourcing advice and support for its entrepreneurs. Serekunda joins a global network of more than 60 Startup Huddle chapters world-wide and will host its first event on November 4th.
In addition to providing direct support to entrepreneurs, the Startup Huddle program addresses a critical element of success for all entrepreneur ecosystems – connectivity. According to GEN research, startup communities with higher levels of local connectedness translate to an increased number of startups – and that founders with high levels of connectivity grow their revenue twice as fast as those with lower levels.
"The entrepreneurship ecosystem in The Gambia is picking up and now is the time to start a community that promotes sharing, trust and co-learning,” said Beran Dondeh-Gillen, Startup Huddle Serekunda organizer. “Startup Huddle allows entrepreneurs to create a space to share, learn and grow. This will bring about more mature companies and a thriving ecosystem."
Startup Huddle Serekunda will be held at an incubator called The Hub, of which Dondeh-Gillen is the co-founder and CEO.
At each Startup Huddle event, local founders give six-minute presentations outlining challenges facing their companies. Each presentation is followed by a 20-minute conversation with an audience of peers, mentors, educators and advisers who provide constructive criticism focused on finding solutions and increasing founder know-how. With new founders cycling through each gathering, and previous presenters joining the audience to give back, the community continues to expand while connections deepen.
“As partners in this venture and as part of the creative industry, we have had our share of struggles climbing the entrepreneurship ladder,” said Muhammed MK Kah, co-founder of Madani Studios, a supporter of Startup Huddle Serekunda. “We look forward to being that helping hand to help others maneuver this amazing and exciting world of entrepreneurship.”
Startup Huddle Serekunda is supported by GAIN, The Gambia Tech Project, MADANI STUDIOS, R and A Co. ltd, and GEN Gambia Chapter. To learn more about Startup Huddle Serekunda or to join a local event, visit www.startuphuddle.co.
About Startup Huddle
Run by the Global Entrepreneurship Network in partnership with local organizers, Startup Huddle is a program designed to help one entrepreneur at a time while strengthening the local ecosystem. Entrepreneurs discover challenges to the solutions they face through purposeful engagement with a broad array of voices from their local community. Currently, there are local Startup Huddle chapters in more than 50 cities around the world. For more information, visit www.startuphuddle.co.
About the Global Entrepreneurship Network
The Global Entrepreneurship Network operates projects and programs in 200 countries to make it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create more jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. For more information, visit www.genglobal.org.