Start-up Jamaica

Accelerator for companies in the mobile application and digital media space.

Start-Up Jamaica (SUJ) is an accelerator (a physical facility that takes equity in start-up technology companies that go through an intensive selection process, in return for seed capital, training and mentorship). The accelerator houses start-up companies and provide them with the key skills and technology, business, management, legal and accounting support that will prepare them to pitch to equity investors ('Angels' or 'Venture Capitalists') and receive investments to grow their businesses. SUJ’s goal is to support talented and technologically savvy young people who are eager to tap into the global demand for creative mobile applications that solve real-world business and social problems, and in so doing, create their own employment. The accelerator is a key element in a strategy developed by the Ministry of Science, Technology,Energy and Mining (MSTEM) to help innovators and entrepreneurs in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean grow their ideas into marketable products and services, thus contributing to economic growth, increasing employment and generating foreign exchange. The strategy aims to transform Jamaicans from being “technology consumers” to “technology creators” over the next few years, and to position Jamaica as the hub for entrepreneurship and innovation in the Caribbean.