Through its programs and resources, hapaSpace supports young people at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey, from developing STEM skills to accessing finance, and from incubating to accelerating innovative ideas.
HapaSpace, a technology and collaborative innovation center located in Kumasi, Ghana, was established in 2016 by CEO Gideon Brefo and CFO Albert Yaw Opoku. The hub helps young people create start-ups and develop skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through workshops, specialized training, meetings, mentoring, and incubation and acceleration programs. It supports the entire business journey, from idea generation to pre-seed financing.
It also offers coworking spaces and fully-equipped offices with reliable Internet connectivity. In addition to physical infrastructure, hapaSpace facilitates access to volunteers, organizes events, and fosters networking opportunities for budding entrepreneurs. Moreover, the center collaborates with venture capital firms, angel investors, and sponsors competitions to provide funding avenues for startups.
Among the programs launched by hapaSpace, SmartWoman aims to equip 150 women with basic digital skills in Adjamesu, in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The program is part of the DigiWorks project sponsored by the Digital Transformation Center of the German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ) and eSkills for Girls.
The center provides technical assistance to companies and individuals. It carries out market research for individual start-ups, companies, and development partners. It has created four active communities to help entrepreneurs build resilient businesses.
The hapaSpace technology community totals over 500 people who support one another. It also has an entrepreneurs' community, an artists' community, and a readers' club. The first counts over 1,000 innovative people, while the second totals around 158 creative artists. In the readers' club, a book is read each month and discussed.
Melchior Koba