BAG - Building A Genereration

Every year, Over 15,000 students graduate from university in Rwanda, yet only 30% of these graduates are able to find a job within 12 months after graduation. This is in large part because 80% of these students graduate from public universities where: they receive limited access to information about where to find a job, lack of relevant training in what a good CV looks like, how to behave in a job interview and the basic soft skills that modern employers are looking for on the job market. Low-income universities are drastically understaffed: some campuses have school counselors and others don’t. BAG Innovation is a Talent Accelerator that has developed a web-based platform called “BAG” (Building A Generation) that enables youth to work with tasks assigned by companies in their field of study in form of case challenges that they have to work and submit their solutions to. Using an innovative algorithm, BAG is able to scan through all the submissions and provide accurate and personalized feedback to the user on what they need to improve in their solution approach

BAG Innovation has identified the lack of market relevancy around the higher learning institutes in the region as one of the key factors for why there is an unemployable generation graduating from secondary and higher learning institutes in Rwanda. Career Centers do not have an understanding of the actual market situation, teachers do not have the time or resources to apply market relevancy into the theoretical learning in class and Students does not have enough conducive opportunities and internships to access and apply their learning into real-life practice. This is where the role of the EdTech comes in, to fill the huge gaps in the slow-changing environments within the traditional institutions. Over 15,000 students graduate from university in Rwanda, yet only 30% of these graduates are able to find a job within 12 months after graduation.

BAG is an EdTech providing support tools for High Schools and Universities in Rwanda. To multiply the development of the youth on the continent we decided to build a platform that focuses on a key development issue for young people: “Lack of enough & effective market exposures and internships connected to the student journey”. When the student has gone through the BAG journey they will have received a “Talent Profile” which states the challenges they have solved, their awards, recognitions, and recommendations that have proven to be very useful when marketed to future employers. BAG is challenging the traditional way of accessing practical experience by delivering an online platform that brings the experience directly into the campuses all over the region.

By submitting an answer to one of the “challenges” on the BAG platform the following is provided: Exposure and understanding of current market challenges Grading and feedback metrics to help the student increase their “market relevance” score Accessibility for both in-school and out-of-school secondary school learners. Individualized career guidance based on previous submissions, study sector and market analysis Talent profile that assists the student in marketing their core competencies (Futuristic CV) Teachers portal to provide complementary tools to make theoretical practice relevant for students BAG is applying Gamification and AI in the technology to adapt to today's youth and making sure that the BAG experience is both fun and impactful at the same time. The student gains experience points, badges, upgrades in levels and competes with their peers during the BAG journey. The challenges that the students submit to are not designed as a “full 3-month internship” but rather dissected tasks that represent a learning experience gained during these opportunities. The submissions can take between 3 to 30 minutes depending on the complexity of the task, this is to make it more attractive with the user since the attention span does not reach longer than this for an online platform.

BAG has identified the internship as one of the key elements for the student’s growth. We are multiplying the opportunities that are shared between a company and intern and challenging the traditional structure of the knowledge transfer. Through Gamification, we are able to retain the student in a fun manner, and at the same time reach the intended impact. The simplicity of BAG makes it easy for any student, disregardless of their previous computer experience to navigate and learn on the platform. We have secured MoUs with 15 universities in Rwanda to access their student networks and databases.

BAG has impacted over 8000 youth in Rwanda with our experiential learning methodology. We have hired more than 500 young talents into income-generating opportunities 2018-2019 and partnered with more than 20 schools in Rwanda. Through research with our partner companies, we have seen a positive difference between candidates/students who have gone through the BAG platform and those who have not. The students who are hired through BAG have proven competitive abilities in problem-solving, critical thinking and the ability to quickly integrate within an organization. BAG has proven to have a clear impact on the market relevancy score of the youth.

Current: 8000+ In 1 year: 100.000+ In 5 Years: 1.000.000+

BAG is looking to expand into the East African market and impact the 3m+ University students in the region. We are building the next generation of problem solvers that believe in informed decision making.

BAG is currently only well-versed in the Rwandan setting and is looking for expert support in terms of partnerships, financial support, and mentorship to understand the main barriers and challenges when expanding a start up.

We are partnering with established organization to understand the cultural and socio-economic setting in each country we expand to and hire a competent team that has experience in building and scaling start ups.

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BAG has identified the need for EdTechs to be just as large in the ServiceNow countries as in Africa. We believe that there is still a huge gap between the undeserved user market and the employers in this region

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4 full time 2 part time 4 interns

BAG has created a multidisciplinary team that has several years of experience in EdTech, career development and Gamification. We have combined 20 years of experience in the subject and are passionate about making a sustainable impact on our surroundings.

Insert Coin - API function that improves our Gamification tool (Founder of Candy Crush)

The Platform is offered on a Freemium basis to both students and companies. BAG has created value propositions to 3 different customers: SMEs: Talent- & Crowd sourcing (subscription model) University: We offer a subscription solution integrate our platform to suit the specific curriculum/courses of each University and connect each course to a market assessment and challenge Student: We support students in fast-tracking their career development and give them personalized career guidance using their current skills based profile on the BAG platform

As mentioned above we have 3 different customers surrounding our revenue streams. We believe that a hybrid model between premium subscriptions and products offered on the platform is the correct path to financial sustainability. BAG is aiming at becoming the largest platform of connected youth and companies in the region, and will keep an AGILE methodology connected to the business growth to leave room for potential additions to the revenue streams.

BAG is preparing to become a leading player for experience based learning in Africa. We are very passionate about our mission and will not stop until we have reached our short term goal: to impact over 1M youth in the East Africa Region. We are in need of mentorship support to prepare our revenue models and scaling strategy in Africa. We have estimated a cost of around 80.000Usd to penetrate and become self-sufficient in a new country/city. Therefore we are looking for financial support in Q3-Q4 2020 to prepare this journey with BAG. We believe in a strong extended network and partners from all over the world to build the perfect solution to solve some of the most pressing issues on the African continent. Let's Build A Generation TOGETHER.

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We want to partner with other EdTechs that can be a complement to the BAG Technology. For example: A innovative assesment tool software that can improve our testing and scoring metrics with the users. We would also like to partner with researches and teams who can evaluate the impact BAG has on the youth. We are also looking for legal and financial advisers that could support the growth into East Africa.