More than 200 business owners and founders from all over India and Africa gathered last month for Stanford Seed’s inaugural Seed Transformation Network Global Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The event gave promising business leaders an opportunity to continue learning and networking so they could create jobs, scale their businesses, and finally widen the impact their businesses have on their countries and communities.
Every business leader that attended the conference completed the Seed Transformation Program, a one-year long certificate program from California-based Stanford University through the Stanford Graduate School. First launched in 2013, the program shares entrepreneurial insights from Silicon Valley to business owners and founders for the same end goals as the Global Summit.
“This Summit builds on the idea that a lasting sustainable solution to poverty relies on entrepreneurs’ initiative, perseverance, and willingness to take risks,” said Seed Executive Director, Darius Teter. “The global network of entrepreneurs that is gathered here is united by a shared mission: to grow their organizations and bring prosperity to their regional economies.”
The programs have clear results, with recent surveys showing the majority of Seed participants who finished the program grew their businesses overall. 86% increase their overall customers, 63% increased revenue, and 62% hire new full-time employees. In total, past participants raised more than $25 million in capital to grow their companies.
