Savvy was founded to help at least 100,000 young and unemployed professionals around the world make the transition to entrepreneurship by equipping them with the relevant knowledge, skills, tools, resources, support network and community to build sustainable and innovative impact-driven businesses as a way of reducing the global unemployment that has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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HundrED 2023
Overview
HundrED selected this innovation for
Global HundrED Collection 2023
Web presence
2020
Established
9.25 thousand
Children
144
Countries
Target audience
Leaders
Updated
March 2023
According to a report by the Kauffman Foundation, more than half of young adults and 70% of university students want to become entrepreneurs. However, 90% of the entrepreneurs who build start-ups fail. Although entrepreneurs are very optimistic about the ideas or solutions they bring to the market, most of them are not successful with the direction they have decided to go in.
About innovation
Why did you create this innovation?
Since 2020, in the midst of the lockdown, many have lost their jobs and gone from being gainfully employed to unprepared job applicants living with uncertainty. According to the International Labour Organisation, 225 million jobs were lost worldwide in 2020 alone due to the pandemic. Long-term unemployment can have serious negative consequences for the individual, society and its economic system.
How does your innovation work in practice?
E-Learning: Savvy begins with a rigorous 12-week e-learning experience. As a fellow, you'll learn everything from ideation to scaling. Some of the things you'll learn are "understanding your customer", "building a product/service that effectively solves their key challenges" and "effectively positioning your solution in the market". After completing the compulsory 12-week training, you can take optional courses in business communication (10 weeks), product design (10 weeks) and effective leadership (10 weeks).
Assessment: During the 12 weeks of learning, you can test your understanding by taking our weekly quizzes. Assessments are the best way to identify your strengths and areas of weakness. Knowing your weaknesses allows us to help you work on them effectively.
Mentoring: Scholars receive weekly expert advice from more than 1,000 experienced entrepreneurs in various sectors and regions.
Smart Prize: At the end of each year, scholarship holders can compete for a prize of US$ 3,000.
How has it spread?
Available in 111 languages, the Savvy programme received more than 111,000 applications. With an acceptance rate of 8%, we have selected and trained 9,246 scholars, 4,676 female and 4,570 male. These fellows come from 161 countries, with Nigeria, Kenya, India, the United States, Ghana, Pakistan, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia and the United Kingdom being the countries with the most fellows selected. More than 6,000 fellows have completed the programme, and these fellows have gone on to discuss more than 5,600 business ideas and kick-start more than 4,900 companies. In addition, we managed to raise US$ 41,450 in funding from the Roddenberry Foundation, the International Telecommunications Union, the United Nations Office for South-South Co-operation and the International Foundation.
If I want to try it, what should I do?
Passionate about solving some of the world's most pressing problems through innovation? Have you always wanted to build a successful impact business but didn't know how? Do you have an early-stage business that wants to grow and scale into new markets and verticals? Interested in being part of the new generation of impact entrepreneurs? Sign up today from https://savvyfellows.com/apply/
Impact & scalability
HundrED Academy reviews
It's advantageous that the Savvy platform is multilingual. The fact that the programme is completely online and free of charge has helped it reach a large number of entrepreneurial candidates in a short space of time.
A brilliant idea to help pool resources and help young people find a way forward with their entrepreneurial ventures. It has undoubtedly had a significant impact in bringing hope back to young people and giving purpose.
- Member of the Academy
Academy evaluation results
High impact
Low scalability
High impact
High scalability
Low impact
Low scalability
High scalability with low impact
Read more about our selection process
Media
Implementation steps
E-Learning
For 12 to 32 weeks, selected participants from around the world are trained in business development, communications and product design. Using visual presentations and real-life examples, Savvy helps them answer all their questions about how to build a successful business. They learn how to gain traction, achieve product-market fit and scale to more markets. We use interactive videos and slides to present each week's talk.
Guidance
We have introduced peer-to-peer mentoring, which we have found to be very effective. So, as all experienced Fellows don't have the same level of expertise, more experienced and senior Fellows will help to mentor others. Experienced Fellows receive weekly specialised mentoring from around 1,000 renowned experts in various sectors. Fellows are expected to effectively transform all their learnings from the expert mentoring sessions into significant and measurable social impact.
Post-Fellowship
After 12 weeks, you'll receive a Certificate of Completion to proudly share with your professional network. That's not all. You'll still find the Savvy platform useful, as we constantly share weekly articles on impact entrepreneurship, personal branding, empowerment and professional opportunities. So your Savvy Fellowship account will be useful even after you've completed the intensive 12-week virtual Fellowship programme.
Sage Award
At the end of each year, Savvy Fellows compete for the $3,000 Savvy Prize, which seeks to recognise and support the efforts of Savvy Fellows working to solve some of the world's most pressing problems through innovative and sustainable ways. The Savvy Prize comes in the form of cash awards, product development support and marketing efforts.
