About this Report
The 2019 Anzisha Prize Forum focused on Very Young Entrepreneurs (VYEs) as agents of change in their societies. One component of the Forum was a stakeholder workshop with six stakeholder groups who represented the ecosystem that supports VYEs. The six stakeholder groups comprised: Educators; Investors; Policy makers; Parents; VYEs; and Incubators.
This report summarizes discussions and lessons emerging from the Investor workshop. Key takeaways from the workshop included:
- Entrepreneurially-oriented education should include building strong financial and risk modelling, as well as increasing critical thinking in the education system.
- Practical experience is critical for VYEs – through internships and learnerships, VYEs can learn about how investment funds work and the criteria that they look for in a business.
- The group called for creating supporting structures to ensure the success of VYEs, e.g. a guarantee that is linked to an advisory board.
- Investors could be mandated to spend a portion of their capital on investing in VYEs.
