Shannon Clarke

Building the Startup Community in Barbados

What’s next for these projects?

A startup is a company, partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a

repeatable and scalable business model

● Startups must think & act global

● Startups need an environment where they can GROW and SCALE

Our current environment

● Barbadians are highly-educated, opinionated and are passionate

● Heavy endorsement from Government

● Several business facilitation organizations (BIDC, SBA, YES, BYBT, etc)

Why it’s not enough

● There are too many silos. Not enough connections

● Setting up a new business takes weeks unnecessarily

● No central location/conference/event for investors & startups to network,

communicate and make deals

Community first

● Must be built with a bottom-up approach, not top-

down. Built by people and not consultants

● Led by (serial) entrepreneurs

● Supported by Government

Everyone must have a equal voice

● People at startup-level can give lecture about any topic within their expertise

● World class talent preferred but not required.

● Everyone must be open to learning & experimentation

●Can we adopt a “give before you get” attitude?

How to get there?

● Asking entrepreneurs to apply for investment/funding is not enough

● Renting space to businesses is not enough

● We need a central location (physical/virtual startup incubator) where members of

the startup community can network, learn and share with each other

●What about the empty industrial parks owned by the BIDC?

How will Barbados benefit?

● (Re) creation of new sectors and services

● Open civic innovation

● Aligns with the Human Development Strategy

● Increased inflows of foreign exchange

● More engagement from Caribbean Diaspora

What’s happening now?

● Disillusioned entrepreneurs are now

creating their own solutions.

● A partnership between BCSI & Digicel

will connect app developers with the

private sector

Let’s keep it frank and open

● Make it easy for people to help each other

● Always be hungry to learn new skills and do

more faster

● Be inclusive. Connect with the Diaspora

● Highlight & celebrate entrepreneurial

success. Embrace and learn from failures

Let’s get

started