Platform helping investors and business startups

With the high unemployment rate in the country, youth are trying to come up with different ways for survival. As they struggle to sustain a living in these harsh circumstances, they are often faced with challenges, such as lack of capital and an enabling environment to embark on a business venture.

Of recent, young innovators have come up with an online platform dubbed ‘Wezesha sasa’ aimed at solving challenges facing entrepreneurs, investors and business startups.

The platform raises funds through donation and equity database that augments business opportunities.

The platform’s Project Manager Mwasapi Kihongosi, says entrepreneurs, investors and business startups should bank on the online platform that aims at addressing pitfalls curtailing economic prosperity.

He notes that the platform helps investors to raise business profiling, raise funds, seed/scale up capital via donations, pre-sales, and equity database for funding opportunities.

“This is the first Tanzanian web-based on crowd funding whose premier goal is to raise funds by responding to social causes and helping young entrepreneurs to raise capital and boost their business,” he says.

He explains that the online platform makes it possible for entrepreneurs to profile their businesses, ask and receive funding, access different opportunities and meet investors’ needs.

He also says that 70 per cent of the youth turn to self-employment as means of survival, noting that more investors are set to venture into entrepreneurial projects as a way of navigating through the current business environment.

Speaking about the challenges which made them come up with the online platform, Mwasapi says most startups lack capital, a situation that hinders their progress.

“The first problem is lack of capital, another closely associated problem was lack of a connecting factor linking investment communities, investors, entrepreneurs and startups. Prior to the platform they didn’t have a clear way of accessing resources, especially capital, that’s why most try different ways of funding but these opportunities were not clear in the first place,” says Mwasapi.

Mwasapi adds that the association was the one that organized the capital that’s why they came up with platform which aims at solving problems of raising funds and accessing funding opportunities Through this platform, we already have good number of community products where people seed and upload the businesses that can have an opportunity to scale up capital via donations, reward based, pre-sales, and equity database of funding opportunities,” he says.

Mwasapi says, together with a team of colleagues they did research which made them come up with the platform. They received financial support and expertise through partnership with DLIIC (Data for Local Impact Innovation Challenge).

Wezesha also operates as an incubator under DTBi,(Dar Teknohama Business Incubator) program which is part of COSTECH, aiming to provide better working environment for young and innovative Tanzanians.

The research and data collection involved different innovation hubs and acceleration programs in Dar es Salaam, to name a few - Sahara Ventures, Project Inspire, VETA and SIDO.

Since Wezesha is an online platform, the team expect to engage more youth and SME from all over the country, especially projects which have impact on young people’s economies in general.

Through research it was also evident that in order to succeed, most startups/ SMEs need funds for purchasing machines, raw materials, research activities, marketing and promotion. These are some of the most important requirements pertinent to the growth of business innovation in the country.