THE
OF IDEAS
AMLEYA CLARKEMay - June 2019 | http://www.liat.com ZiNG CARIBBEAN | 69
Discover the Barbados startup hub
whose innovative approach to business
development has transformed the
landscape for Caribbean entrepreneurs.
Words Tirshatha JeffreyCOMMUNITY CARE
Selwyn describes TEN as a “nurturing environment that
helps to identify, build and scale investable ventures”. Just
as a natural habitat creates a nurturing environment for
its residents, TEN Habitat has created a space in which
regional entrepreneurs can learn and develop. Every week,
the Habitat is home to workshops, mix and mingles, and
rap sessions that give entrepreneurs access to potential
partners, collaborators, mentors and investors. The physical
site contains a co-working space that members who may
not be able to afford or have need for an offi ce space can
access during business hours. Selwyn describes it as a place
where “entrepreneurs can meet like-minded entrepreneurs,
bounce ideas, receive in-house mentorship and connect
with global players”.
Through access to their peers, as well as to a network
of mentors and investors, entrepreneurs who become part
of TEN Habitat automatically become part of a community.
“We place a very big emphasis on community fi rst and then
building businesses second,” says Selwyn. “All of what is
done is about community.”GLOBAL REACH
The TEN Habitat community stretches beyond the waters of
the Caribbean. “For far too long, persons have been trying to
build big ideas and businesses while having exposure to only
local networks,” says Selwyn. He affi rms that he and his team
have sought to surround entrepreneurs with a strong and
supportive community and have “invested heavily with some
of the best startup ecosystems and communities across the
globe” in order to do so.
The Habitat has connections to international
entrepreneurship hubs in Africa, Europe and the UK. The
aim is to combine global networks and best practices with
local ingenuity to build globally competitive businesses.
“We believe fundamentally that, in order to be successful,
entrepreneurs need to be surrounded by local, regional
and global communities,” says Selwyn. “[They need to]Selwyn Cambridge is on a mission
to change what it means to be a
Caribbean entrepreneur. The founder
of TEN Habitat – a Barbados-based,
community-focused non-profi t
organisation that helps startups to grow- is motivated by his conviction that
nurturing Caribbean entrepreneurs is
integral to the growth and development
of the region’s economies. “The
world over, it’s been proven time and
time again that entrepreneurs are
the lifeline of economies,” he says.
“Entrepreneurship and innovation are
the instruments you need working well.”
Selwyn, a serial entrepreneur, founded
TEN on the belief that entrepreneurs
need to belong to a community of peers
and mentors just as much as they need
access to funding and resources.