The Money Tree Magazine 1st Issue | Page 50

ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE SOCIETIES FOCUS ON O ur nine-member core of Ákro Organisation are all running successful Startups of their own across various sectors, including operations from social tech initiatives, mobile applications and community websites to real estate, consulting services and even mobile petrol sales. In fact, some have formed holding companies to house multiple subsidiaries. One member runs a property group, Basday Properties. Another is taking on a tech initiative. Others are consulting to the Lesotho government through their corporate consulting group, and another runs a group of companies in the tech and education spheres. We aspire to motivate and inspire the youth of South Africa to challenge the status quo and develop their entrepreneurial character. Ultimately, we aim to address some of the most fundamental and central issues faced by our country – the slow state of entrepreneurial initiative and the rate of youth unemployment. Our organisation believes in passion. Our intention is to become South Africa’s entrepreneurial engine, fuelling entrepreneurs and businesses by presenting opportunities to learn, network and leverage off each other’s knowledge, resources and enthusiasm. WHAT WE DO Ákro is a non-profit organisation that seeks to bring together some of the brightest entrepreneurial minds in South Africa, with a collective goal of inspiring youth entrepreneurship and innovation by building powerful business networks. Ákro seeks to involve itself in anything that will add value towards our members’ entrepreneurial exposure. We see our members continuously involved in activities such as talks, seminars, entrepreneurial courses, blogging, consulting and business coaching. Last August, Ákro hosted its annual Young Leaders Summit at the Colosseum Hotel in Century City. The event saw a number of impressive industry leaders and ambitious entrepreneurs coming together to teach, learn and inspire each other. The day was a huge success, seeing our members light up with motivation and the desire to begin their own entrepreneurial adventure. Our ancillary events have seen involvement from Ernst & Young, Acsis Fund Managers, Traders Corner, Legacy Hotel Group and venture capitalists such as UStart. We are all connected by a passion for business and entrepreneurship, constantly encouraging each other to be as brilliant, innovative and hard working as possible. WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN US Essentially, we are a society for the people of entrepreneurship. Ákro would like our members to realise their entrepreneurial qualities and find ways to pursue their own endeavours. Ákro aims to grow small steps at a time, with the fundamental vision of inspiring and guiding young leaders to bring out the passionately curious entrepreneurs inside all our members. The true measure of one´s education is not what one knows, but how one shares what one knows with others. We encourage young entrepreneurs with ideas to act upon their thoughts with conviction and we