Ideialab – Seeding Entrepreneurial Spirit
What is Ideialab?
“The ideialab was born as a dream. Throughout our professional journey we had the opportunity to travel around the country and visit places unknown to us until then, and in each trip we discovered a country full of opportunities that nobody took advantage of. And we wondered what was missing. We also learned more about entrepreneurship and we discovered that it could be the solution to Mozambique’s challenges. If our country was more entrepreneurial, we would be at a completely different stage from what we are at today.” – explain Sara Fakir and Tatiana Pereira the two co-founders of Ideialab.
How you come up with the idea of creating Ideialab?
“The concept “entrepreneurship”, was unknown to many at the time. It slowly started to grew and as time went by, with the support of our partners and our “pink team” we learned how it could be realized, and that it was not only a beautiful word. The idea of creating ideiaLab, a Mozambican company, which supports the emergence of start-ups, accelerates their growth, as well as the entrepreneurs and the ecosystem in which they operate. ” – says Sara Fakir.
What are the greatest achievements of Ideialab?
“ The entrepreneurial journey is very challenging. In the last 4 years, in ideaLab we trained over 3800 entrepreneurs and supported directly or indirectly over 900 businesses. We created the culture of celebrating each achievement… whether it’s one more client, the delivery of one more program, until we see that entrepreneur to whom we gave a little “push” being accepted by his family or reaching the market and winning his first sale.” – adds Tatiana Pereira.
How easy/difficult is it to be an entrepreneur in Mozambique?
“Mozambique as a country, still has a lot to learn about the business culture. There are still few role models and barriers at the bureaucratic, cultural and finance level. But we believe it is part of the process, since we are young nation, with a lot of opportunities. It is necessary not to stand still. It’s not easy in our environment, but it’s not easy in any other environment either. That’s why we build bridges, connect and promote peer learning, as well as social ecosystems.“ – conclude Sara Fakir and Tatiana Pereira the two co-founders of Ideialab.
For more information, please visit Ideialab official web page.
