Business Ideas for Youth
(innovator in Kyrgyz language) is a contest of innovative business projects launched 11 December 2016 and held as a part of Enactus Innovative Lab, a platform for the creation and testing of new start-ups before their further implementation. The idea came up in a result of cooperation of UNDP and Enactus Kyrgyz Republic.
Tabyshker Innovative Laboratory aims at identifying innovative business ideas in industrial fields of information technology, recycling and reuse of materials, tourism, agriculture, water and sanitation. These areas closely resonate with the objectives of sustainable development, adopted in September 2015.
Entrepreneurship is a major driver of sustainable development of our economy. According to the National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic, there were more than 360 thousand individual entrepreneurs as of the end of 2015; this number is steadily increasing from year to year. Entrepreneurs are an important part of the society as they create many jobs and contribute to attracting funds to various economic sectors that contributes to economic development and, not least, entrepreneurs are the main taxpayers.
We have witnessed that during the contest and here are the numbers:
“For a long time we have been working in the field of youth entrepreneurship. We create conditions for students, for young people to learn entrepreneurship in practice, ” – says Azhara Kazakbaeva, Programme Manager at Enactus Kyrgyzstan.
Initiatives in the field of promotion and development of innovative and socially oriented entrepreneurship among young people in the future will allow raising successful entrepreneurs, who will make a significant contribution to sustainable social and economic development of our country.
Out of 100 teams that took part in the qualifying round, 18 made it to the finals of Tabyshker contest. The teams were presented in five different areas:
1. Innovative technologies.
2. Recycling and reuse of materials.
3. Tourism.
4. Agriculture.
5. Water and sanitation.
Many teams showed good results, but the judging process selected the following best teams:
1. The 1st placer, VacanCV, Innovation and technology, works in the sphere of creation of a web service to find candidates for vacancies (service for employers) and the correct preparation of resumes and search for vacancies (service for applicants).
2. Nava Honey, Agriculture, got the 2nd place thanks to its service of entomophily that will increase the productivity of the farms via pollination by bees.
3. Mashroom Palace, Recycling and reuse of materials, got the 3rd place. The company makes everyday objects from various natural chips processed by mushroom mycelium.
