Skip to main content

Business Insider: Incubator giving Cambodia’s startups chances to compete

Melanie Mossard, community director at Impact Hub. Photo supplied

Robin Spiess | The Phnom Penh Post 
Publication date 05 March 2018 | 06:48 ICT

Cambodia’s nascent startup scene is nurtured by tech and incubation hubs, which often partner with business leaders and NGOs to provide mentoring and funding to young entrepreneurs. The Post’s Robin Spiess caught up with Melanie Mossard, director of community at Phnom Penh’s Impact Hub, to see what the organisation has planned for the future.

What is Impact Hub, and how do you contribute to the overall startup ecosystem in Cambodia?

Impact Hub is a startup business incubator for young innovators with original ideas solving pressing problems and improving the life of local communities.

In addition to monthly training, we provide mentoring, facilitate connections with relevant stakeholders and bring them emotional support.

Since we started three years ago, we have been supporting 70 teams of aspiring entrepreneurs and 75 percent of them are still working on their startups.

What has Impact Hub been working on lately, and what does it have planned for the rest of the year?

We are now running a program called YouthEcoLabs, a three-month business model validation program for aspiring environmental entrepreneurs, including an exposure trip to the forest, supported by the United States Embassy.

In the middle of this month, we will launch the SDG [Sustainable Development Goals] Fellowship Program, with the support from UNDP, which will provide free working space, mentoring and connections.

We are also about to launch the flagship program of the year, the Smart Start Program. It is a nine-month incubation period for aspiring tech entrepreneurs providing leadership, technical and business training for students, in addition to a $4,000 prize. The best team will win an exposure trip to Singapore to visit the tech giants Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Facebook.

What are the main challenges facing young entrepreneurs in Cambodia today?

The first challenge is access to a network, which provides entrepreneurs not only with business contacts but also affirmation and support, giving aspiring entrepreneurs the courage to continue their journey, even in difficult times.

Next, technical business skills. We see entrepreneurs who have a strong understanding of the issue they want to solve, but they lack the business know-how (from financials, to marketing, to value chain management) to turn these solutions into sustainable, replicable models.

The final challenge is lack of access to funding. There are very few options available in Cambodia for entrepreneurs looking to validate their models and enter the market.

How would you describe the state of funding for startups in the Kingdom?

I am an optimist about the funding available for startups. Most of them choose to bootstrap their activities by using personal savings, friends or family money, or grants received through competition.

With the recent launch of the SADIF by Smart and the new network of angel investors, a new range of funding is available.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bhutan showcase: Film fest to feature flicks from over the hills and far away

A screenshot from The Prophecy, which will screen this evening at the Cambodia International Film Festival. Photo supplied Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon | The Phnom Penh Post Publication date 07 March 2018 | 07:44 ICT With three feature films at this year’s Cambodia International Film Festival, the Buddhist mountain Kingdom of Bhutan this week gets a rare moment in the spotlight for Phnom Penh’s audiences. In town for the screenings, actor Loday Chophel breaks into a smile when asked how he came to play the leading role in The Prophecy, one of just a handful of movies produced by his country each year. “Can I tell you?” he asks tentatively before launching into an explanation. Born in an eastern roadside village called Wamrong, consisting of no more than 15 houses perched on a mountainside, the 38-year-old recalls that there was just one television set in the whole town, at a local convenience store. “I would go sneak in and watch films,” he says. TV and film was a novelty at the time...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dhamma talk by Maha Thera Dr. Hok Savann March 7, 2018

Post a Comment
Read more

Major study to address under-diagnosis of TB among children

A patient and a family member sit on a bed at the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control in Phnom Penh, in December 2013. A new research project aims to reduce mortality among children suffering from TB. Heng Chivoan Yesenia Amaro | The Phnom Penh Post  Publication date 06 March 2018 | 16:37 ICT Despite the high prevalence of tuberculosis in Cambodia, fewer than 7,000 childhood cases were reported in 2017, a statistic researchers believe to be an underestimate, and one they hope to correct with a massive new project. Laurence Borand, with the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia, said the Kingdom is one of seven countries that will take part in a four-year, multi-agency project that will screen about 77,000 children, 12,600 of them in Cambodia. The project seeks to reduce childhood mortality from tuberculosis. “The outcome of this research project is a simple [and] effective tuberculosis diagnostic approach for children,” Borand wrote in an email. In Cambodia, 6,757 TB ...
Post a Comment
Read more