Unreasonable launches East Africa and Mexico Institutes
After four years of bringing entrepreneurs, investors and mentors from around the globe together in Boulder, Colorado, our client the Unreasonable Institute has a simply unreasonable goal: t0 open 100 institutes in 100 countries.
In summer 2014, the Institute will pilot two new locations, Unreasonable East Africa in Kampala, Uganda and Unreasonable Mexico in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Aimed at early-stage ventures with strong business plans, the institutes are open for-profit and non-profit businesses. East Africa and Mexico boast hundreds of start-ups that open for business each year, however many fail due to a lack of experience, resources, tools and connections before they reach profitability. The two new Institutes aim to meet these hurdles head on, building upon the Boulder-based Institute’s record of success with young ventures–to date, it has help secure more than $30 million for 82 companies since 2009.
As with the Boulder-based Institute, entrepreneurs will live under the same roof for multi-week intensive training with 50 mentors and form relationships with dozens of potential investors. However, unlike Global, where entrepreneurs are taken away from the markets in which they work, East Africa and Mexico will stay “in country” with local experts who can aggressively support their needs from idea to prototype, then from prototype to revenue, from revenue to profit, and finally from profit to scale. In addition, the regional institutes allows for a better establishment of product-market fit and to validate business models in real-time on the ground, establishing global pipeline of support in the very markets where these entrepreneurs work.
As with most things Unreasonable does, the aggressive goal of 100 new institutes is not without its challenges. Blue Dot Advocates played a critical role in brokering the licensing and partnership agreements between the existing Insitute and the two new institutes in Mexico and Uganda.
East Africa is accepting applications until Nov. 7 and Mexico will open for applications on Oct. 21. Global is also accepting applications until Nov. 7. East Africa is only open to applicants from Kenya or Uganda; Mexico will only accept applicants that operate within Mexico.
