StartUp Namibia gave entrepreneurs and startups an opportunity to develop their businesses while they were at the coast in December with the Swakop pop-up camp, a co-working community office space for Namibian startups.
As is tradition, people travelled to the coast to escape the heat, ambitious entrepreneurs and startups were no exception. That is why the people of StartUp Namibia opened a ‘Pop-Up’ entrepreneurial base in Swakopmund, offering expertise, guidance and advice in a dynamic dedicated space.
The Pop-Up camp was located at the Atrium Lifestyle Centre on Hendrik Witbooi street in the Central Business District. The Atrium Lifestyle Centre is the most diverse and creative space in Swakopmund and is the perfect space for startups and creatives to grow and connect.
Over the coming weeks, there were a number of live events and activities taking place and the StartUp Namibia coworking space was open to support locals and help them connect with Namibian startups and entrepreneurs and get involved in the community.
Entrepreneurs and startups never sleep whilst trying to fulfill their ambition of being a successful and viable business. This was a way to feed the entrepreneurial mind whilst at the coast through this Pop-Up Camp.
The coast was impacted severely by the pandemic with lots of businesses shutting down, supporting new budding businesses and ideas will start the coast on the road to recovery. Stimulating the ecosystem and supporting businesses can aid them in exploring and expanding into the new markets driving the turnaround for the coastal region.
“Feel free to visit, take advantage of the free Wi-Fi, coffee, popcorn and the professional advice on offer and become an active member of Namibia’s startup culture and community, said Sasha Willemse, community manager at StartUp Namibia, December was the perfect time to take their business idea, business plan, product or service to the next level and develop their entrepreneurial drive and they were there to help!”
The Windhoek based companies Victoria Nanny agency and Chommie Bites will make use of the collaborative and start-up space to explore opportunities of expanding to the coastal region. Kirstin Wiedow, GM of StartUp Namibia said: “We know that most activities for entrepreneurship are centred around Windhoek; however, there are potential entrepreneurs everywhere in Namibia.
The Erongo region was one of the hardest-hit regions during the Covid-19 pandemic and, in parallel we had the second-highest amount of programme participants enrolled from Erongo. We felt that establishing a Pop-Up Camp at the coast over the summer season would kickstart the entrepreneurial spirit at the coast and provide much-needed support to the community. We look forward to assisting them in taking their idea to the next level in 2021.”
StartUp Namibia is a joint Namibian-German technical cooperation project for Sustainable Economic Development, implemented by the Namibian Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development and Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
People need the right conditions for their startups to flourish and StartUp Namibia provides the right conditions.
Assisting in the establishment and growth of startups in selected regions across Namibia, which now includes the Coastal region from December 2020 to February 2021.