5 000 entrepreneurs graduate from Google’s Hustle Academy

At least 5 000 business owners have completed and graduated from Google’s Hustle Academy training programme

Google on Tuesday held graduation events in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria to celebrate the occasion.

At the events, Google also announced a new speaker series in which successful African entrepreneurs share lessons and advice, furthering its commitment to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive.

Hustle Academy

Launched in February this year, the Hustle Academy provides practical business training which helps business owners learn the soft skills that complement their hard talents, through peer-to-peer and mentor driven learning.

This year’s graduates were chosen from nearly 10 000 applications.

They come from 23 cohorts who attended five-day virtual bootcamps where they learned how to define their business strategy, increase sales, and how to pitch for investor funding. The curriculum also included lessons on digital marketing and effective financial planning.

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Each business also received one-on-one mentoring sessions to address specific pain points in their businesses and to get advice from a network of trained mentors and coaches.

Achievements

Alistair Mokoena, Country Director Google South Africa, said the graduates are proud of their achievement.

“Our graduates are working hard to grow their businesses, and in addition to having an impact in these 5000 SMBs, this kind of practical training also has a ripple effect, helping many more people succeed.”

“Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are the backbone of the global economy, and in Africa, they account for an estimated 80% of jobs. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are an estimated 44 million micro, small and medium enterprises, which function as important drivers of economic growth,” said Mokoena.

Google speaker series

Google said the speaker series will allow SMBs to get insight from business owners from an array of sectors, focusing on the issues, themes and subjects they face on a regular basis.

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