Thirty entrepreneurs packed onto a bus. It sounds like the set up for a joke, but this is real.
StartupBus is a volunteer-led scheme which takes an energetic, enthusiastic mix of coders, designers and business developers and takes them on a tour of the world.
It has travelled around Europe and the US since 2010, and this year marks its entry to Africa for the first time, where startups are hopeful to solve problems like healthcare, education and electricity access.
Half the travellers are African, and the entire bus unloads at various stop off points, spewing forth its unusual clientele to identify and solve an existing local problem.
On the bus, the talented groups use the windows as whiteboards, covering them with post-its and marker pen scribblings.
It’s a cool idea and one which is as focused on helping communities, as on helping the startups.
But I don’t know how on earth they manage to work on a coach, in those cramped seats, stuffy air and closed windows.
I once took buses all around South America, sometimes for bum-numbing durations of 24, 25 hours, and all I wanted to do was throw up. Hopefully the innovation isn’t harmed by any of those on board being travel sick.
