HANGA Hubs is an action funded by the European Commission and it is implemented by RISA. It operates in MUHANGA, NYAGATARE, RUBAVU and RUSIZI. The action is part of the Rwanda Government’s and the European Union’s efforts to support the private sector development and job creation in Rwanda through Innovation and Incubation hubs.

The action was created to address the obstacles and gaps that limit the growth of tech enabled start-ups, especially those in their early stages, by offering services and facilities that can help them survive and thrive.

The action has 3 main components:

HANGA Hub is an open space and a centre of gravity for young entrepreneurs and innovators. A Hub staffed, furnished and equipped with machinery, equipment and amenities needed for building startups with cool tech solutions, products and services.

• HANGA Hub delivers programs and services tailored to specific needs of innovators and startups from ideation stage until early-development and market entry stage.

• HANGA Hub partners in building local communities and the national ecosystem  making sure we have a brand and all ingredients to help innovators and startups start, grow and success and stay in market. 

About the Hanga Hub Curriculum and Toolkit:

The Hanga hub curriculum is built on the human and society centred foundation one that put the “user/customers’ unarticulated needs” at the center of innovation processes. This approach does not commit to any form of end solution on the outset but rather it strives to generate ideas that could ultimately be transformed into products or services.

The other element under consideration is about localization and contextualization of the curriculum knowing that a direct copy from one place to another does not work. The demographic structure of the region, power dynamics at play, competing incentives and cultural norms should be factored in, to dictate how the local ecosystem will develop in the future. So, the focus is to account for the uniqueness of each secondary city but also to build based on cooperation between the cities.

The curriculum is designed by combining the systemic thinking (market readiness) and design thinking (technology readiness) to accompany the business development component (business readiness). The system thinking element aims to equip participants with tools to dive deep into the system being targeted for impact: the value chain, the institutional or societal context in which it sits, and the power dynamics at play (who makes decisions, controls resources – including those that can be leveraged, holds blocking cards). The design thinking lens uses rapid prototyping tools to draw fellows to appreciate the user’s role in innovation processes.

The Hanga Hubs curriculum follows a modular construct and run on cohort basis of 9 months full time program. The complete program is divided into three phase from

1. Ideation (proven idea, 4-6 weeks), to

2. Pre-incubation (market ready prototype, 3 months), to

3. Incubation (entry to market, 6 months).

The targets as set by RISA by the end of the project:

• 1000+ youth trained

• Setting-up 192 start-ups with up to 768 fellows

• 400 clients served by the start-ups

The entire toolkit consists of 3 booklets containing 3 modules each and a small number of purposefully selected tools per module. The toolkit was designed to guide participant transition from ideation to pre-incubation, and way up to incubation. 

Methodology

The program is delivered in a form of interactive workshops which combines theory, practice, group work, videos, assessments, case studies and peer feedback to enhance experimental

learning. The teaching tools are accompanied with fun indoor or outdoor team building exercises.

Each stage will end with a round of pitching sessions where participants will present their ideas/innovation to a panel of external experts who will then select the most compelling opportunity cases to be pursued at further stages. This step also marks the Exit Points from the program and participants who cannot find a compelling opportunity cases or high potential ideas will be dropped out of the program and may follow available exit support mechanism or re-entry routes. Throughout the program participants will have access to a pool of facilitators and coaches allocated to each hub who will provide personalized training and coaching sessions on the use of the program tools. At the end of every session, participants and facilitators will work out a road map with clear milestones to be acted upon for the rest of each stage.

These are the different stages of the journey of an innovator in the HangaHub Program:

Ideation stage:

• Duration: 4-6 weeks boot camp targeting up to 30 individual participants selected using a highly competitive process.

• Candidates: Open to all youth above 18 years, with a desire to learn how to ideate, validate, prototype, and create a start-up, and willing to complete a 9-month fully fledged innovation program on full-time basis.

• Exit Pathways: Fellows who cannot find compelling opportunity cases or high potential ideas will be dropped out of the program, or they may follow available exit support mechanism or re-entry routes.

Pre-incubation stage:

• Duration: 3-month boot camp targeting up to 15-20 teams.

• Candidates: Open to teams formed at ideation stage, or any other high potential team with proven ideas and deep understanding of the market being targeted for impact, and willing to commit to the program on full-time basis.

• Exit path: Nonperforming teams, and/or teams without any viable MVP and/or a potential target market have the option to either to join other teams or to drop out of the program and directed to re-entry routes.

Incubation stage:

• Duration: 6-month boot camp targeting up to 15-20 teams.

• Candidates: Open to teams that completed the pre-incubation stage and whose intended solution is on a path to enter market, or any other startup at market entry level and willing to commit to the program on full-time basis.

The following graph presents the different stage of the journey of an innovators in the HangaHub Program:

IDEATION

1. Ideal Candidates

• You are a student or a graduate from any Higher Learning Institution (HLI) in Rwanda as evidence by your academic qualifications

• You are willing and committed to complete a one-year fully fledged innovation program on full-time basis.

• You have a proven ability to spot opportunities and gaps in any sector that may be transformed into a high-growth venture.

• You are have a desire to learn how to build an tech-enabled innovation and the commitment to turn it into a high-growth venture

• You are a resident of MUHANGA, or NYAGATARE, or RUBAVU, or RUSIZI

• You are preferable between 20-35

2. Structure

• Duration: 4-6 weeks boot camp targeting up to 30 individual participants selected using a highly competitive process.

• Candidates: Open to all graduates, age 25-35, with a desire to learn how to ideate, validate, prototype and create a start-up, and willing to complete a one-year fully fledged innovation program on full-time basis.

• Exit Pathways: At this stage fellows who cannot find a compelling opportunity cases or high potential ideas will be dropped out of the program or they may follow available exit support mechanism or re-entry routes.

PRE-INCUBATION STAGE

Structure

• Duration: 3-month boot camp target in up to 15-20 teams.

• Candidates: Open to team formed at ideation stage, or any other high potential team with proven ideas and deep understanding of the market being targeted for impact, and willing to commit to the program on full-time basis.

• Exit path: At this stage, nonperforming teams, and/or teams without any viable MVP and/or a potential target market have the option to either to join other teams or to drop out of the program and directed to re-entry routes.

INCUBATION STAGE

Structure

• Duration: 6-month boot camp targeting up to 15-20 teams.

• Candidates: Open to teams that completed the pre-incubation stage and whose intended solution is on a path to enter market, or any other startup at market entry level and willing to commit to the program on full-time basis.

SELECTION PROCESS

• Attend the Information Desk Workshop: Before the call for applications closes, a desk information session will be held for any interested candidates to learn more about the Hanga Hub programs, the application procedure, and selection criteria.

• Complete and submit Application form: Applications are submitted through our applications platform. All interested candidates needed to register on the platform before they can submit an application

• Complete the entrepreneurial intentions assessment: All interested candidates will be requested to complete an entrepreneurial form, which will assess the candidate's motivation and commitment to the innovation program.

• Complete the innovation scenario assessment test: All candidates will be required to take an online test in which they will be presented with an innovation scenario to test their creative thinking, writing skills, numeracy and data analysis skills

• Announcement of the shortlisted candidates: The selection process will conclude with a virtual workshop in which shortlisted candidates will be presented and data on entrepreneur preparedness will be displayed in order to spot areas that need to be improved further.