JBDC Partners with First Angels Jamaica to Assist MSMEs

The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) and First Angels Jamaica (FAJ) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), under which micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) will receive assistance to deliver winning business pitches.

The FAJ is an angel investor group that backs the start-up ventures of aspiring local entrepreneurs.

Speaking in an interview with JIS News, JBDC Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Harold Davis, said the MSMEs will benefit from a range of business services under the entity’s recently launched accelerator programme.

“What this MOU does is really enable entrepreneurs to approach an angel investor for financing,” Mr. Davis noted.

“It will facilitate businessmen/women who need help in tweaking with their business model, market access strategies, proof of concept for the businesses and pivoting of business models… . We will do all of that work to prepare them,” he further shared.

Mr. Davis noted that many entrepreneurs either lack confidence or are ill-prepared to sell their business ideas.

He said that through the services provided under the accelerator programme they will be ready to engage an investor in the FAJ group within three to six months.

To benefit from the MOU and the financing that comes from an angel investor, entrepreneurs must register with the JBDC’s accelerator programme.

The FAJ is one of two angel investor networks in Jamaica, the other being Alpha Angels in Montego Bay.

An angel investor, also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor, is an affluent individual, who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.

The JBDC’s accelerator programme was launched during Global Entrepreneurship Week from November 14 to 20.

The programme, which will be rolled out in January 2017, selects and trains entrepreneurs to set up and operate a business.