What will the program look like?

A TECA Blue Wave is organized in the three phases outlined below. Upon selection to become a TECA founder, active engagement in the program will be required depending on whether respective individuals and their teams qualify to progress to the end – TECA graduation. The phases are broken down as follows:

• Summoning (2 – 5 months): recruiting 40 Fellows to work on ideas as well as the broader community to support them 
• Genesis (Team and venture formation for 6-8 weeks): onboarding the Fellows and supporting them as they develop teams around a problem and a solution. Culminates in an “Idea pitch day” which will see 7 teams progressing to the next phase. 
• Traction (Product building and validation for 3 months): supporting the teams to prototype, test and refine their ideas turning them into viable solutions. Teams will receive USD 55,000 in the form of grant funding and technical assistance during this phase to build their products and ventures. This phase will culminate in “TECA graduation day” where the 7 ventures will pitch to a pool of external investors to receive funding for launching their solutions and growing their market fit.