GenU imaGen Ventures global winner continues entrepreneurial journey
A Young People’s Action Team delegate to the Global Leadership Council is also a STEAM entrepreneur
This summer brought exciting news for one of the Young People’s Action Team delegates to the Global Leadership Council who is also one of the imaGen Ventures global winners. Andrea Remes, a young entrepreneur and activist working to bring more girls and women into science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM) fields, won a Halcyon Flagship Residential Fellowship to develop her latest idea with her team. Andrea writes about this amazing opportunity below.
Investing in youth is always a great option. Who can understand better what problem they are facing and what solutions they need than young people themselves? The Youth Challenge 2.0 [now renamed imaGen Ventures] winning team, FEMME & STEAM/Erandi Aprende, has been selected to participate in the prestigious Halcyon Flagship Residential Fellowship.
This team focuses on empowering girls and boys in STEAM areas and reducing the gender gap that currently exists in these fields through interactive digital courses, STEAM kits, videos and do-it-yourself activities.
During the Halcyon fellowship, my Chief Technology Officer, Miroslava Rodriguez, and I will receive free residency and workspace, mentorship and leadership coaching, robust support from business consultants, and a living stipend to continue developing our entrepreneurial vision. The hard work and dedication during the fellowship culminates in a final showcase to a curated audience of partners, mentors, advisors, supporters and potential investors.
While at Halcyon, we aim to reinforce our product’s market fit, continue working on our sales funnel and improve our impact model, as well as explore scaling possibilities to move our products into the North American market by securing a round of seed capital.
The Halcyon team received over 600 applications for 28 places for its 3 autumn programmes, with submissions from 68 countries. In the end, only eight Fellows are selected for the Flagship Residential Fellowship. A top source of applications continues to be Africa, where Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda were among the top countries for applicants. This cycle’s top three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were SDG 3: Good health and well-being; SDG 4: Quality education; and SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth.
