Announcing the second cohort of the Enterprise Bermuda Incubator, Premier David Burt today announced the latest set of “eight new entrepreneurs who will be housed in the BEDC offices for 12 months”, to benefit from the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) Programme.
Launched in February 2018, the Enterprise Bermuda Incubator provides “participants with an opportunity to take part in an intensive development process whereby they can hone their business ideas and implement strategies for success”.
Due to the success of the pilot, it has now become a primary part of the BEDC’s service offering.
The 12-month programme is focused on walking participants through an in-depth development process, which ensures the entrepreneurs get beyond the idea stage and start to bring their businesses to fruition.
Speaking at a news conference held earlier today, “to acknowledge the successful start of the second cohort”, the Premier noted that the goal from the outset was to fill the “need for a programme to help entrepreneurs get beyond the idea stage and bring their business solutions to fruition”.
That started in February last year, “to provide participants with an opportunity to take part in an intensive development process whereby they can hone their business ideas and implement strategies for success”.
“BEDC works with the entrepreneurs through the process of developing and honing their business idea so they can best determine if it will work in Bermuda’s competitive marketplace,” said Mr Burt.
“They provide participants with complimentary access to BEDC’s educational courses and programmes; provide them with free or subsidized office space; as well as personalized mentoring with local mentors including Bruce Sharpe, Chris Maybury, Felicia Rickards, David Lovell, Tyler Owen, Jvon Furbert, Kyle James, Tulani Bulford, Tee Ogunyemi, Kim Perdikou, Delight Morris and Kyle Masters.
“These individuals are entrepreneurs and industry experts in their own right and have been gracious enough to share some of their experse and knowledge to
support the Incubator participants.”
With mentor support, BEDC “also uses its vast database of industry contacts to find participants pro-bono or subsidized services in areas such as marketing, accounting, legal support and web development, which were all identified by entrepreneurs in a recent needs assessment”.
“Those taking part in the 2019 Enterprise Bermuda Incubator Programme will meet one-on-one with BEDC’s Officers on a biweekly basis to provide updates and receive added encouragement and support,” he added.
“BEDC continues to answer the call on behalf of local entrepreneurs. We recognize that the work that the organizaon has been doing for the last 30 years has been a catalyst for other organisations to develop similar programmes with the shared goal of developing a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“As an entrepreneur at heart, I understand the need for this type of support and congratulate BEDC for taking the lead in developing the Enterprise Bermuda Incubator Programme,” said the Premier.
“This Government supports local entrepreneurship and recognizes that programmes like the Enterprise Bermuda Incubator is an example of our commitment to support the development of local entrepreneurs and an innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
