Young children launch real businesses in free Virtual Entrepreneurship Challenge

South Africa is in the grip of a youth unemployment crisis, with around 60% of 18- to 24-year-olds jobless as of early 2025, according to Statistics South Africa (nearly double the national average). A skills mismatch compounds this, leaving tertiary graduates under- or unemployed due to lacking practical abilities like problem-solving and financial literacy.

In a study released by the Department of Higher Education and Training (2023) on employer perceptions of TVET college graduates, foundation skills such as reading, writing, numeracy, speaking, oral and written comprehension, and computer skills were rated as very poor.

Yet, amid this stark reality, a bold counter-movement is emerging: Children as young as 9 are launching real businesses, being taught and required to set their pricing and revenue model correctly, size their market, identify their competition and their unique selling propositions before finishing primary school.

The Koa Academy Online Entrepreneurship Challenge offers young South Africans aged 9–16 what most curricula lack: hands-on experience building a real business from scratch. This free five-week virtual programme guides students through spotting opportunities, refining ideas via weekly live coaching and self-paced coursework, and pitching to industry experts – equipping them with future-proof skills like resilience and creative thinking, for which businesses predict 73% demand growth over the next five years.

With guidance from experienced founders, investors and business leaders, participants move beyond classroom theory into the exciting reality of entrepreneurship. It’s less about winning a trophy and more about gaining experience that most people don’t get until their 20s, if ever.

“Learning how to build a business and clearly pitch its value transforms a concept into something others can believe in. Giving young people the opportunity to learn and practise these skills early is incredibly powerful, building both confidence and strong public speaking abilities,” says Abena Opeibea Anie-Budu, venture partner at MEST Africa and one of the 2026 Entrepreneurship Challenge judges.

“Practical skills and real-world exposure give young people a meaningful advantage: not just in business but in how they approach opportunities and challenges more broadly.”

More than theory: How the challenge actually works

A great business doesn’t start with a logo or a pitch deck; it starts with noticing an opportunity for improvement: either a product that doesn’t work for people, a service the community needs, or a frustration no one has solved properly – and thinking, “I could build a solution for that.”

That’s exactly the mindset Koa’s Online Entrepreneurship Challenge is designed to develop.

Over five weeks, students take part in a fully virtual, interactive experience that follows a step-by-step journey to build and launch a real business, from spotting a problem to pitching their idea to a panel of industry experts for feedback. The programme is structured so students aren’t left guessing what to do next: They build, receive feedback, refine and build again, right up to a final pitch moment that pulls everything together.

Each week, participants join a 1-hour online session where they receive live group coaching from an experienced entrepreneur, plus time to gain advice from an allocated mentor who stays with them throughout the challenge.

Alongside this, students devote an hour per week to self-paced online coursework that introduces new ideas and tools to help them build their business at a time that fits their schedule.

By the end of the challenge, each student will have created a business pitch presentation, presented it to a panel, received professional feedback and advice, and piloted an initial version of their business idea.

Developing skills to outlast a single project

At its core, Koa’s Online Entrepreneurship Challenge is about youth empowerment and future-ready skill-building. Students practise problem-solving, creativity, resilience, communication and financial thinking, while learning how to take an idea seriously enough to shape it into a plan and bring it to life.

They also build a mindset that serves them whether or not they become entrepreneurs: noticing real problems around them, thinking critically about what’s missing, and designing meaningful solutions.

Previous participants haven’t just completed projects for marks; they’ve created skincare lines, food brands and sustainable fashion businesses that continue operating long after the challenge ends.

Getting this exposure early means students develop a different relationship with failure, money and creative problem-solving, and those lessons stay with them whether they eventually start companies or pursue completely different paths.

By involving experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts as judges and guest speakers, the challenge also gives students access to credible role models and real insight into what building a business looks like in practice – access that many would not otherwise have.

Real students, real businesses

Last year’s finalists showed clearly that when students are guided to build something real and held to real expectations, their growth becomes visible.

Nia Kinuthi (Kenya) turned her crochet hobby into a sustainable brand Nani Knits, and credits the challenge with transforming her confidence in pitching and responding to critique – skills she now uses beyond business, including when she put herself forward to represent Kenya in debate.

Sere Kiteto (Kenya), with her natural skincare brand Solani, moved from struggling to explain her ideas to being able to structure a business plan, calculate costs and defend her pricing, actively using skills like pricing, profit margins, budgeting and cost analysis in running her business.

Anna and Cleopatra Achiambo (South Africa), founders of Snacks by Sissies, discovered that entrepreneurship isn’t just a “grown-ups’ thing” and learnt to lead, budget and pitch beyond their comfort zones while expanding from snacks into other offerings.

These stories echo a common pattern: Students don’t just learn about entrepreneurship; they learn how to communicate clearly, think practically, respond to feedback and back themselves with confidence.

Judges, speakers and mentors

One of the things that makes this challenge genuinely real-world is the people from whom students get to learn. Throughout the programme, participants receive guidance and input from industry professionals, helping them sharpen their thinking and raise the quality of their work.

For 2026, confirmed judges alongside Abena Opeibea Anie-Budu include Pargo co-founder Lars Veul and Koa Academy co-founder & CEO, Lauren Anderson. These judges bring deep experience in scaling businesses and investing in high-potential founders, and their feedback is a key part of what makes the challenge truly real-world for participants.

For the live sessions, confirmed guest entrepreneurs include: Kylie Lai King, founder of wellness brand SANRAE; Milan Rendall, founder of The Bowling Club; and Danei Rall, co-founder of Fintr. These entrepreneurs will speak about their own entrepreneurial journeys and will also form part of the prize package, offering one-on-one mentorship sessions to the winner and runners-up.

Top projects are recognised with prizes that help students take their business ideas further, awarded across Junior and Senior categories for both Winners and Runners-Up. Alongside cash prizes, students gain access to mentorship, practical business support and brand-building help, tangibly backing young entrepreneurs and helping them extend their ideas beyond the challenge.

Registration for the Koa Online Entrepreneurship Challenge is open until 10 May. There is no fee to enter, and participants gain access to experienced mentors, feedback from industry judges and a clear framework to launch something real.

The students who’ve already gone through the programme show that the results aren’t abstract; they’re concrete businesses you can support.

Image credit: Freepik/stockking