Four young OECS entrepreneurs have placed in the top three of the Caribbean Tech Entrepreneurship Programme (CTEP), an initiative designed to help address unemployment in the Caribbean by leveraging opportunities in the Virtual Economy.
CTEP provides regionally relevant capacity-building workshops and critical mentorship support and is focused on stimulating the creation, and supporting the growth, of technology entrepreneurship in the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) 19 Borrowing Member Countries.
The virtual incubator and accelerator programme commenced its 1st cohort in January 2019, which saw selected entrepreneurs (teams) competing for cash and business support prizes.
50 teams competed in the business ideation stage, 30 in the business validation stage and 10 in the business scale-up stage.
Among the nine overall winners, two 1st Place Winners and two 3rd Place Winners emerged from the OECS:
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I’m Local: Cory Zufelt of Grenada, 1st Place Winner in the Scale-up Phase;
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Bodio: Linda Dias of Montserrat, 1st Place Winner in the Ideation Phase;
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LinkUp: Kenna Questelles George of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 3rd Place Winner in the Validation Phase; and
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Packed Grocery Delivery: Chaneil Imhoff of Antigua and Barbuda, 3rd Place Winner in the Ideation Phase.
Kenna Questelles George from St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the co-founder of LinkUp, an Information Technology-driven startup that allows users in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to buy a product, find a service or grow their business more efficiently and conveniently.
LinkUp endeavours to stimulate growth within St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Caribbean as a whole, by placing local skilled persons and unique businesses at the fingertips of all consumers. The service also empowers businesses to acquire new customers, increase sales and reward loyalty.
Kenna is a semi-finalist in the TEECA Caribbean Entrepreneurship Challenge and will compete in the finals scheduled to be held in Martinique in June, 2019.
