Of course I know who Richard Branson is, but I have to admit, I had no idea that the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship existed until today when I randomly saw a Tweet from my friend Bryan Byrne about a Hangout Branson was doing today with Elon Musk and entrepreneurs from the Centre of Entrepreneurship. I only caught the last 15 minutes of it, but it was just enough to see a few entrepreneurs from the Caribbean program (they also have a program in South Africa) ask several questions.
The centre focuses on four areas:
Access to Knowledge: A 12 week training programme focusing on practical business skills delivered by experts in the field as well as in workshops, 1on 1 coaching and mentorship.
Access to Networks: A platform of collaboration with peers and other national, regional and international entrepreneurs and facilitation of exposure to investors.
Access to Markets: A platform to showcase Branson Centre entrepreneurs to local and international markets.
Access to Resources: A physical hub with the infrastructure required to start, run and scale up a business including a small bank of pro bono hours with professional service providers such as legal, finance and marketing.
Here is the Hangout replay:

I love seeing programs like this focused on helping entrepreneurs in the developing world. If you know any other programs similar to this in other areas of the world, please leave them in the comments.
Note: If you’re interested in meeting others who think, go ahead and add “Branson Centre of Entrepreneruship” as an interest on your Oh Hey World profile (if you don’t already have an account, you can create one using this link). Learn more about connecting with others in the passionate communities you belong to.