Empretec Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Awards
Empretec Zimbabwe, the leading entrepreneurship development organization in the country, in partnership with Old Mutual Zimbabwe, invites you to apply or nominate an entrepreneur for the prestigious and coveted Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Awards (ZEA) 2024. The awards will celebrate the best of entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe, recognizing and rewarding high impact, innovative and high performing entrepreneurs across 3 main categories of entrepreneurship – Idea Stage, Early Stage and Growth Stage (Please click on definitions tab below). Please note that the Closing date for the application is on the 14th of November 2024
The entrepreneurs must demonstrate vision and leadership, innovation and social impact, balanced with excellence, resilience and perseverance, building enterprises that show financial sustainability while also demonstrating potential for growth and scalability in the medium to long term.
The prizes, which will be announced in due course, will be a mixture of cash prizes, capacity building programmes and initiatives, access to markets, access to funding and additional experiences as shall be curated by the organizers and ecosystem partners.
Information relating to the application.(click tab to expand)
Carefully read the section with Information Relating to the Application before you proceed to fill in the application form.
The Company must (be)
- Registered in Zimbabwe
- Majority owned (51% plus) by a Zimbabwean National (ID Number)
- Must fall within one of the criteria listed on the next tab.
Please select from below the industry or market that best suits or matches your business
- Agriculture (Farming, livestock, forestry, fishing)
- Construction (Building, infrastructure development, architecture)
- Manufacturing (Production of goods, textiles, food processing)
- Services
- Financial (Banking, insurance, investments)
- Healthcare (Medical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology)
- Hospitality (Tourism, hotels, restaurants
- Professional (Consulting, law, accounting)
- Technology
- Software (Development, programming, IT services)
- Hardware (Electronics, manufacturing, distribution)
- Telecommunications (Networking, internet, phone services)
- Retail
- E-commerce (Online shopping, digital marketplaces)
- Physical stores
- Energy
- Renewable (Solar, wind, hydroelectric power)
- Non-renewable (Oil, gas, coal, nuclear power)
- Media
- Print (Newspapers, magazines, publishing)
- Digital (Online media, social media, advertising)
- Broadcasting (TV, radio, film production)
- Real Estate
- Residential (Housing, property development)
- Commercial (Office spaces, industrial properties)
- Transportation
- Logistics (Shipping, warehousing, supply chain management)
- Passenger (Airlines, railways, bus services)
- Education (Schools, universities, online courses)
- Idea Stage
Newly registered or unregistered entity, largely self-funding (directly from founders, family and friends) and still at conceptual stage. Your company could be recently legally registered but has a Minimum Viable Product (a product still in development but with enough features to attract early customers and validate the product idea)
- Early Stage
Your company has a commercially viable product that has gone through proof of concept and customer validation. It is not a “one man show” and has early signs of market success, peeked demand in product (service) and has started selling to some customers with potential to scale the business significantly with the right resources and support). With a the in the near future. The company must be able to meet its basic costs and not necessarily be profitable.
- Growth Stage
Your company shows evidence of strong local market validation with consistent growth for at least three years, repeatable and consistent clients, predictable sales, and has developed an operating structure containing departments with a settled executive team that has clear department hiring standards. The company has an active and engaged board of directors. The company may have already had Equity Funding in order to scale or may have reached its growth limit or plateau and you are exit-ready (seeking acquisition or private equity)
- Company registration documents (except stage 1 unregistered)
- Tax Clearance Certificate
- Link to website (if available)
- Company logo if available (Upload file)
- Your Pitch Deck or Company Profile
- Please attach 3 reference notes from your 3 top customers
- CVs of the top company executive(s)
- Short listed entrants will be required to provide financial information such as management accounts, audited financials or other
Application Form
Please fill in the Application Form below and attach all necessary documents.