Last updated a year ago
Absence of a dedicated Cardano blockchain incubator for African startups pursuing servitization hinders growth and innovation, necessitating a specialized hub for tailored support and collaboration.
This is the total amount allocated to Blockchain-Servitization Hub: Empowering African Startups.
Launching a bilingual (English/French) incubator program to foster African startups developing service-centric solutions on Cardano blockchain, offering guidance, resources, and mentorship
No dependencies.
While the majority of our incubator's resources will be openly accessible, some proprietary components won't be open source. These include:
Our goal is to strike a balance between contributing to the open-source community and maintaining the unique value proposition of our incubator program. We believe this approach is crucial to the program's sustainability and its capacity to continue serving African startups in the long term.
SDG 4: Quality Education - Through the provision of comprehensive training, mentorship, and resources, the incubator enhances the quality of education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for African startups in the field of blockchain and servitization.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth - The incubator's focus on empowering startups promotes job creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth within the African region.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure - By supporting African startups in leveraging the Cardano blockchain and embracing service-centric solutions, the incubator contributes to fostering innovation, building resilient infrastructure, and promoting sustainable industrialization.
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities - By providing targeted support to African startups, the incubator helps reduce inequalities by ensuring that underrepresented groups and regions have access to opportunities in emerging technologies and innovation.
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals - The establishment of the incubator promotes partnerships between academia, industry experts, and startups, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing for the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Our proposed solution is to establish a Blockchain-Servitization incubator focused on empowering African startups. Our project will bridge the gap between traditional industries and the emerging blockchain technology through the concept of servitization.
The problem we are solving lies in the struggle many African startups face when they try to integrate themselves into the digital and blockchain world. The complexity of transitioning from a traditional manufacturing model to a service-oriented model, particularly within the blockchain domain, is overwhelming for many. It requires a unique blend of digital, strategic, and business process knowledge that these startups often lack.
Our approach to solving this problem is rooted in our unique blend of expertise. We will draw upon our knowledge in digital Servitization, Marketing, statistics and data analysis, Sales enablement, and Blockchain to provide comprehensive and tailored support to these startups. This project intends to go beyond simple education or training. It will be an incubator program, providing hands-on, real-world experience and mentorship in developing service-centric solutions on the Cardano blockchain.
Combining Servitization and Blockchain:
Servitization and blockchain are transformative paradigms that can revolutionize traditional business models. Servitization is the shift from selling standalone products to providing comprehensive solutions that generate ongoing value. By offering integrated solutions that involve both physical products and associated services, businesses can foster customer loyalty, differentiate themselves from competitors, and facilitate sustainable growth.
Blockchain technology, known for its decentralization, security, and transparency, provides an effective tool for executing and recording transactions in a trustable manner. In a servitized business model, blockchain can track and authenticate every interaction along a product's lifecycle. This combination not only enhances transparency but also enables novel business models, such as decentralized autonomous services, pay-per-use services, or dynamic pricing based on real-time data.
Targeting African Startups:
We aim to support African startups due to the unique blend of opportunities and challenges they present. Africa is witnessing a digital revolution, and its startups are at the forefront of this transformation, tackling local challenges with innovative solutions. Yet, these startups often lack access to resources and mentorship to fully leverage emerging technologies like blockchain.
Our Blockchain-Servitization Startup Incubator aims to bridge this gap. By targeting African startups, we can drive socio-economic development on the continent, promote financial inclusion, and contribute to the digital transformation of Africa.
Components of the Incubator Program
Measuring Impact
Our incubator's impact will be measured by the number of startups it helps, the quality of solutions these startups launch on the Cardano blockchain, the degree of Cardano adoption this drives, and the feedback from the startups. We aim to create a measurable, significant impact on the Cardano ecosystem and the African startup landscape.
Open Source Commitment
Finally, our commitment to making project outcomes open-source ensures that our impact goes beyond the startups in the incubator. By sharing resources, tools, and learnings, we aim to foster a collaborative, innovative ecosystem within Cardano and help more startups navigate the servitization and blockchain landscape.
The challenge is to improve the ease with which projects are developed on Cardano and ensure the effective operation of stake pool nodes. By establishing our Blockchain-Servitization Startup Incubator, we will directly address this challenge in the following ways:
Our team's capability to deliver this project with high levels of trust and accountability stems from our diverse expertise in digital servitization, blockchain technology, data analysis, marketing and strategy, sales engineering, and project management. This combination of skills uniquely positions us to drive the development of a startup incubator focused on fostering blockchain adoption within the African startup ecosystem.
Here's why we believe we're best suited to deliver this project:
To ensure transparency and trust in our management of funds, we will incorporate the following steps:
Our team's diverse expertise, demonstrated dedication to transparency and accountability, and deep understanding of the Cardano ecosystem make us uniquely suited to deliver this project and manage project funds effectively.
Milestone 1: Project Initiation and Planning (Month 1 - Month 2)
Milestone 2: Incubator Design and Development (Month 2 - Month 4)
Milestone 3: Startup Selection and Onboarding (Month 4 - Month 6)
Milestone 4: Incubator Execution (Month 6 - Month 11)
Milestone 5: Review and Future Planning (Month 11 - Month 12)
Our project team consists of highly skilled professionals with expertise in various domains relevant to the proposal. Each team member brings valuable experience and knowledge to ensure the successful execution of the project. Here are the team members and their roles:
Dr. Tihnhinane TAZAIRT - Project Lead and Digital-Servitization Expert
Houssem BENMAHMOUD - Sales Enablement and Business Optimization Specialist
Recruitment Plan:
At this stage, we have not recruited additional team members. However, we recognize the importance of expanding the team's capabilities as the project progresses. We plan to recruit individuals with expertise in Blockchain development, software development and IT infrastructure.
These individuals will bring valuable technical skills and experience to our team, complementing our existing knowledge base.
While we are open to considering candidates with various backgrounds and expertise, we will prioritize individuals with a strong understanding of emerging technologies and a willingness to learn and adapt to blockchain development principles. This will ensure that we have a well-rounded team capable of providing effective support to the startups in their journey on the Cardano blockchain.
Human Resources: 50,000 ADA
Operational Expenses: 30,000 ADA
Program Development & Execution: 20,000 ADA
Marketing and Community Engagement: 20,000 ADA
The cost of the project represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem for several reasons. Firstly, the budget allocation reflects a balanced distribution of resources across different aspects of the project, ensuring comprehensive support for African startups aiming to develop service-centric solutions on the Cardano blockchain. The breakdown takes into account the need for skilled human resources, operational expenses, program development, marketing, community engagement, and contingencies.
Regarding human resources, the allocation of 50,000 ADA for salaries and consultant fees is based on industry standards and the expertise required for successful project execution. It ensures that qualified professionals are onboarded to manage and guide the incubator program effectively. The budget considers competitive remuneration to attract and retain top talent with the necessary knowledge and experience in digital servitization, blockchain, marketing, and strategy.
Operational expenses of 30,000 ADA cover essential aspects such as office lease and utilities, IT infrastructure, and office supplies. These costs are justified by market rates and are necessary to establish a functional and efficient workspace where the core team can operate, collaborate, and support the startups effectively.
The program development and execution budget of 20,000 ADA is allocated for crucial activities like curriculum development, mentorship programs, and support services. These costs reflect the investment needed to provide comprehensive training, guidance, and resources to the startups, ensuring they have the best chances of success.
Marketing and community engagement, with a budget of 20,000 ADA, are critical for promoting the incubator program, attracting startups, and fostering a vibrant Cardano community. These activities involve website development and maintenance, marketing campaigns, and organizing community events and meetups. The allocated budget allows for effective outreach, awareness building, and collaboration opportunities, contributing to the growth and adoption of Cardano.