Harare, Zimbabwe – The Global Entrepreneurship Network is excited to announce the opening of a new Startup Huddle chapter in Harare, Zimbabwe to support the growth of the local startup community while crowdsourcing advice and support for its entrepreneurs. Harare joins a global network of more than 60 Startup Huddle chapters world-wide. The chapter hosted its first event in early February with a second event coming up on March 10.
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.
“This is an opportunity to bring founders and the startup community together to tell stories and share valuable insights,” said Startup Huddle Harare Organizer Simba Mswaka. “Our goal is to turn Startup Huddle into a local institution that builds up startups and is a rite of passage for small businesses in Harare.”
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.
To learn more about Startup Huddle Harare 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.