Young Water Fellowship Programme

The Young Water Fellowship 2019 offers 10 young leaders the opportunity to participate in Cewas‘ one-month start-up training program, as well as mentorship and fundingto turn their water and sanitation initiative into a social business. If you are selected as one of our Young Water Fellows 2019, this is what happens after you accept the offer:

• Before the training:You will receive within ten days of being selected all the documents and guidance you need to immediately start the Schengen visa application at your closest Swiss Embassy or Swiss visa processing center. We recommend that you start getting familiarized with the process and check that you meet the conditions to apply to the visa.
• Start-up training: The training is delivered by a partner organization, cewas, a Swiss water start-up incubator that since 2011 trains water entrepreneurs. The training in 2019 lasts 35 days. It starts in Willisau, Switzerland, where Cewas has its training center. After three weeks working on Fellows’ business models, the group goes for one week to Stockholm to attend the World Water Week and start pitching their initiatives to the global community. From Stockholm, we will go to Brussels, where we will spend the last week that culminates with the Pitching Night, an event where you will have the opportunity to pitch in front of 100+ investors, policymakers, and representatives of different water organizations.
  Accommodation is shared and divided by gender. You can read more about the training content on cewas’ website. Notice that the training is designed for entrepreneurs with little to medium business knowledge. It is not a training for advanced people, so If you have a business degree or a lot of business experience, you might not find it useful.
• Seed funding application:After the training, you will be asked to submit within two weeks a proposal to apply for seed funding to pilot your initiative in the 6 months that follow. You will be asked about your business model and the pilot project plan. Young Water Solutions will coach you through it. If you meet the conditions (such a completing the training, going back to your country and submitting a proposal for the same project you were elected), you will be offered seed funding between €3000 and €5000. The amount is decided based on your specific needs and the available funds.
• Mentor matching: After seed funding is assigned to you and you begin the implementation phase, we will assign you at least one mentor whose profile matches your needs and can complement your skills. This mentor will guide you and provide you advice through the pilot project.
• Coaching: Young Water Solutions’ team will have regular calls with you and help you with the challenges you face during the pilot project implementation. We will also connect you to relevant organizations and share other funding opportunities.
• Young Water Fellowship Alumni network: As soon as you complete the training, you will be added to our Young Water Fellowship Alumni Facebook group, where you will have the opportunity to meet other Fellows from previous years, exchange information and receive additional useful resources.