The Guyana Economic Development Trust (GEDT) offers a unique opportunity for Guyanese and non-Guyanese, in and outside of the country, to support independent projects that advance society via economic and workforce development. By connecting with the GEDT, supporters enable the organization to reach those independent individuals and organizations working toward the advancement of Guyana.
Entrepreneurship is a source of economic growth, which provides employment opportunities. The Guyana Innovation Prize provides pre-seed funding to commercially viable and scalable ideas.
The Innovation Prize is an application-based, competitive year-long fellowship that consists of training, coaching, and mentoring, among other unique features, all designed to cultivate the skills needed for Innovation Prize Venture Fellows to run successful enterprises.
In addition to skills development, the Guyana Innovation Prize program awards selected Fellows with pre-seed grant funds to bring their standout ideas to market, or to expand their operations.
The Guyana Innovation Prize is an annual program, and applications open in the Spring.
Founders and their teams are passionate and hardworking, typically making up for lack of experience with sheer grit. However, the rigors of running a new business can wear on even the grittiest of teams.
The GEDT startup and small business incubator provides deep training, coaching from international experts to help program participants transition to growing businesses that provide jobs and creates wealth.
Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) are ready to scale their operations and provide jobs. They possess a minimum viable product, interested customers, solid processes, and significant potential. What they lack, however, is access to growth (versus startup) capital, an experienced professional management team, and access to a strong business network. The GEDT small business accelerator and Executive Volunteer Corps projects provide technical, next-level management support, plus capital, to help accelerate small businesses that are on the cusp of growth.
