Caribbean Targets Belizean Startups with Global Mentorship Program

Belizean startups are gaining new momentum to grow bigger and faster. Entrepreneurs are being urged to tap into RevUP Caribbean, a hands-on incubation program designed to help turn small ideas into investment-ready businesses. Since launching in 2021, RevUP has guided founders through five months of intensive training in money management, governance, and pitching to investors. Now, as it rolls out its eighth cohort, the program is leveling up, partnering with global network Bridge for Billions to offer weekly mentorship, flexible online learning, and in-person retreats. It’s all about giving local startups the tools and confidence to scale. We spoke with Managing Director Sandy Glasgow about why this could be a gamechanger for Belize’s next wave of entrepreneurs.

 

Sandy Glasgow, Managing Director, Rev Up Caribbean

“Our program is really designed to support founders who have an aspiration for their businesses for those businesses to grow into significant businesses. We’re looking for founders of innovative businesses. We started First Angels Caribbean like twelve years ago. And in 202, we started Rev Up Caribbean because when we looked at the founders who had received equity financing from First Angels, we recognized that many of them were very technically competent, but they lacked the ability to grow and scale their businesses. And especially if you have an investor, you have an obligation to grow this business so the investors can get a return on their investment. So we really sat down and looked at what were the gaps that we found in these companies that we have funded. And we curated a program, a five-month virtual business incubation program. We started in 2021, in the midst of COVID. So we designed this program to really fill those gaps. We, we look at things like  going digital and using AI to improve your productivity, marketing, introduction to finance and accounting,  managing people and processes, corporate governance, strategy growth and scaling, and then investment readiness, which involves understanding what angels are looking for when you pitch to them, learning the language of investors, looking at what due diligence is all about,  the legal documentation you need if you’re going to get into a partnership with an investor, how to value your business, and how to protect your IP.”

 

Applications are open until June thirtieth and Belizean founders are encouraged to visit the Rev Up website to apply.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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