OLD Mutual’s Eight2Five Innovation Hub says partnering The Ideas Tank has seen it integrate the initiative into the Value Creation Challenge programme, providing startups with critical exposure, investor connections and mentorship.
The hub is sponsoring the initiative for the third year running at this year’s edition of the In Conversation with Trevor Ideas Festival, slated for the end of this month at Troutbeck Hotel in Nyanga.
The collaboration is seen strengthening the hub’s mission to turn innovative ideas into market-ready solutions.
In written responses, Old Mutual Zimbabwe group marketing, public affairs and sustainability executive Lillian Mbayiwa highlighted the hub’s continued commitment to nurturing entrepreneurial talent.
Partnering The Ideas Tank allows startups critical exposure, investor connections and mentorship. Our goal is to transform innovative ideas to market-ready solutions,” she said.
Mbayiwa added that the hub was planning to leverage more on strategic partnerships in the future to scale its impact and broaden opportunities for emerging businesses.
Through the Value Creation Challenge 2025, she said, forty startups had benefited directly, while over 3 000 small businesses participated in nationwide business clinics earlier this year.
“Alumni who have showcased at major platforms like ZITF, ZAS, VCC Showcase Day and Ideas Festival, secured partnerships, contracts and attracted seed funding,” she said.
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She, however, said challenges remained around access to capital and market readiness, which she said were being addressed through the incubation programme, targeted mentorship.
“. . . and partnerships with organisations such as the British Council, ZADT, British embassy, Delta Corporation, SNV and DHL GoTrade to provide export readiness and global market access,” she said.
As the challenge introduces a panel of judges this year, Mbayiwa said the role of the judges was to ensure transparent evaluation and provide actionable feedback to the startups that have been taken through a three-month-long incubation.
She emphasised that the initiative’s three-month incubation programme equipped startups with the tools they need to succeed.
As the Ideas Festival 2025 beckons, the Eight2Five Innovation Hub remains a driving force in Zimbabwe’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, turning bold ideas into tangible business success, experts say.
