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Crowdfunding for Caribbean Entrepreneurs: Free Online Course
August 21, 2016Online
Applications are open through Aug. 21 for Crowdfunding for Caribbean Entrepreneurs, an exciting and innovative free training course that combines unconventional approaches in entrepreneurship financing with an innovative online learning platform.

"The pooling of small contributions of funds from a group of people for the purpose of making something larger happen." – A Caribbean entrepreneur’s definition of crowdfunding

The flagship Crowdfunding MOOC for Caribbean Entrepreneurs (CMCE) is an exciting and innovative training course that combines unconventional approaches in entrepreneurship financing with an innovative online learning platform. Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs provide a free open access web-based learning platform to a large number of participants. MOOC platforms such as Coursera, EdX, and Stanford Venture Lab are democratizing education, transforming learning and promoting lifelong learning.

Around the world, national and international institutions, such as the World Bank Group are paying greater attention to the impacts of crowdfunding on local economic development. In the Caribbean, crowdfunding is a relatively new approach to financing entrepreneurship projects that use the power of the ‘crowd’ to collect small contributions from a number of supporters or customers to help finance start-ups, non-profit initiatives and social enterprises. CMCE aims to provide entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills to use crowdfunding to test the market demand for their product or service. 

The World Bank Group’s Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC) is a seven-year CAD$20M program funded by the Government of Canada which became effective in March 2011. EPIC seeks to build an enabling ecosystem for growth-oriented and sustainable enterprises across 14 CARICOM countries, except Haiti. It has three core activity pillars: digital innovation, climate technology, and women-led entrepreneurship. These pillars are complemented by an access to finance program for Caribbean entrepreneurs, and a skills upgrading and capacity development program for all ecosystem stakeholders.

The Access to Finance (A2F) program under EPIC introduces innovative early-stage financing mechanisms, such as angel investments and crowdfunding. The Crowdfunding Massive Open Online Course for Caribbean Entrepreneurs is an A2F initiative which is facilitated by the ITC-ILO team with assistance from other international crowdfunding experts.

By the end this MOOC, learners will be able to plan, apply the proper tools and execute their own Crowdfunding campaign. The learning objectives are to:

recognizeRecognize the role of crowdfunding and its impact on investable entrepreneurship ideas

planIdentify emerging trends and core resources on crowdfunding and Caribbean entrepreneurship

social mediaIdentify the social media tools to build networks and promote campaigns

metrics and social dataUse metrics and social data to improve outreach and engagement

build cf4dev planBuild crowdfunding campaigns for projects in the Caribbean region

The MOOC consists of an 8-week online open learning course, facilitated by expert trainers and several other international experts on crowdfunding and entrepreneurship. It will consist of 7 modules on the fundamentals of crowdfunding for development projects, methodologies and tools. In each of the modules we will discuss and exchange knowledge through a variety of learner-centred action activities.

The centre-piece of the MOOC is the capstone project at the end of the course, where participants will have the chance to exhibit and share their ideas with others. The course starts with basic concepts of crowdfunding, and each learning module provides the know-how, tools, templates, and build the peer support system for you to build and launch your own Crowdfunding campaign.

Furthermore, considering the objectives of the MOOC, it will focus on participatory activity-oriented learning augmented by the following:

WEBINARS & DISCUSSION FORUMS

To engage and participate in the talks with our crowdfunding experts and course mates.

VIDEOS

To illustrate practical explanations and application of the concepts.

COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES, PEER REVIEWS & WIKI

To seek feedback and crowdsource solutions and expertise from peers.

STRATEGIC PLANNING EXERCISES

To conduct stakeholder mapping, write a concise message for your targeted audience and to measure your key performance indicators.

READINGS & ONLINE RESOURCES

To access more in-depth knowledge of the subject the being covered.

QUIZZES

To assess your own understanding of the material and to review how far you master the content in a number of modules.

The Crowdfunding Massive Online Course for Caribbean Entrepreneurs (CMCE) intends to increase the awareness and capacity of Micro, Small and Medium Size Enterprises (MSMEs), startups and entrepreneurs in the EPIC participating Countries with effective skills to start their own crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding is an option for entrepreneurs to publicly raise awareness and financing from an exponentially expanding network of multiple, disconnected entities/persons to collectively support start up or growth via a structured online marketing campaign.

In particular, this MOOC is targeting Caribbean Entrepreneurs that through the use of crowdfunding will be able to:

  1. Test their ideas faster

  2. Identify potential customers

  3. Access to wider networks

  4. Attract a larger pool of investors

  5. Access a larger pool of investment options

  6. Get comfortable with using technology to access capital and markets

  7. Building online presence and brand

  8. Become more credible and accountable as a CEO raising funding online

  9. Accelerate economic growth in SME market

  10. Build innovation capacity

        Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship                                                     

 

The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship – Caribbean (BCoEC) is a collaborative initiative between Virgin Unite, the not-for-profit foundation of the Virgin Group, and Virgin Holidays, the UK’s leading long haul tour company to the Caribbean. They have partnered together to bring world-class entrepreneur support to the region.

 

           Launch RockIT 

 

Launch Rockit is an organization of passionate entrepreneurs that host local events to help entrepreneurs develop their business ideas faster. They host events such as Startup Weekend and through our events we connect early stage Caribbean entrepreneurs to local and international resources that can help them grow their businesses. Their mission is to show the world that Caribbean entrepreneurs can turn great ideas into amazing companies.   

 

 

  Economic Development Advisory Board   

 

The Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB) is an advisory body to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

 


      Caribbean Industrial Research Institute

 

The Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) is a well-recognized name in the Region, and an invaluable Caribbean asset, providing services in laboratory and field testing, consulting, research and development and training. CARIRI's guiding principle is to provide the same level of service excellence to each client – from the micro-entrepreneur to the macro-industrialist. 

APPLY NOW!
  • Deadline: Aug. 21
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