Below are a few sample itineraries from past Inspiration Grant recipients (some details, such as names, have been anonymized*). These are intended to give you an idea of the level of robustness that we expect, but these are not intended to be a template to copy, and your specific itinerary may look different based on your topic and goals.
This student traveled to Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana to investigate solutions to improve financial inclusion for those that are unbanked or are excluded form the traditional financial systems. You can hear more about this student’s experience in their podcast episode here.
| Date | Location | Activity/Description | Reason for Activity (how this will help you) | Notes (other relevant details, etc.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/11 | Lagos, Nigeria | Meeting with President, National Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria - Person A* | This will help with the pilot of the MVP, getting access to mobile money agents and also understanding the landscape | |
| 12/12 | Lagos, Nigeria | Visit to cluster of mobile money agents in Lagos mainland market | First-hand experience of how the agents serve customers and help with understanding how the idea will best serve the agents | |
| 12/13 | Lagos, Nigeria | Meeting with Startup A* team (fintech startup) | Startup A* is a leading fintech start-up in Africa and provider of payment gateway platforms for small businesses. This meeting will help with potential partnership, also an integration with Startup A* may be the necessary for the platform idea I plan to build | In addition, understanding how Startup A* as scaled across Africa in a short time will be a valuable lesson |
| 12/14 | Lagos, Nigeria | Meeting with Startup B* team (fintech startup) | Startup B* also has agents that offers its services, hence this is a potential partner for getting access to chunk of agents to utilize the platform I'm working on | |
| 12/15 | Lagos, Nigeria | Meeting with Startup C* team (fintech startup) | Startup C* is also a potential partner as they also have agents that offer their services. Another potential partnership for pilot/launch of the idea | In addition, Startup C* is a fintech company that have succeeded in scaling by partnering with leading tech and financial institutions across Africa, I plan to also meet the Founder to understand how they were able to do that |
| 12/16 | Abuja, Nigeria | Meeting with MFS Africa Country Director - Person B* | MFS Africa is a fintech platform provider for many mobile money company and they have a wide coverage across the continent, I plan to leverage their platform to get access across West Africa | |
| 12/17 | Abuja, Nigeria | Visit to cluster of mobile money agents in Apo market | First-hand experience of how mobile money agents in Abuja which is the Hub of the North (the North has the biggest unbanked population in Nigeria) serve customers and to understand the nuiance in the north. | Abuja is the Hub for the North- which is the most financially excluded region in Nigeria |
| 12/18 | Abuja, Nigeria | Meeting with McKinsey's Partner, Head of West Africa Financial Services - Person C* | Person C* is McKinsey's expert for financial services and fintech in Africa, she has done several research and reports as regards the challenge I plan to address. Meeting her will help to get an expert view on the problem and how best to tackle it. I also plan to share my idea with her | |
| 12/18 | Abuja, Nigeria | Visit to cluster of mobile money agents in Garki market | Understanding how agents in this locality serve customers and testing my hypothesis and assumptions | |
| 12/19 | Abuja, Nigeria | Meeting with Founding Partner, Future Africa and Co-Founder of Africa's 2 most valuable startups, Startup A* & Startup D* - Person D* | PErson D* is a potential investor and an expert in building tech startups in Africa | |
| 12/20 | Abuja, Nigeria | Meeting with Startup E* Mobile Money team (fintech startup) | A potential partner for accessing agents and for product pilot | |
| 12/21 | Cotonou, Benin | Meeting with MTN Benin Mobile Money team | MTN has the largest agent network in Africa, its necessary to partner with them for pilot and launch and also to validate my assumptions | |
| 12/22 | Cotonou, Benin | Meeting with Startup F* team (fintech startup) | To understand the nuisance with starting a tech startup business in Cotonou leveraging their experience especially in the fintech space | |
| 12/23 | Cotonou, Benin | Visit to cluster of mobile money agents in Marche Missebo market | Understanding how agents in this locality serve customers and testing my hypothesis and assumptions | |
| 12/24 | Cotonou, Benin | Visit to cluster of mobile money agents in Dantokpa market | Understanding how agents in this locality serve customers and testing my hypothesis and assumptions | |
| 12/25 | Cotonou, Benin | Christmas / Rest / Travel to Ghana | ||
| 12/26 | Accra, Ghana | Visit to cluster of mobile money agents in Mazola market | Understanding how agents in this locality serve customers and testing my hypothesis and assumptions | |
| 12/27 | Accra, Ghana | Meeting with MFS Africa Ghana team | MFS Africa is a fintech platform provider for many mobile money company and they have a wide coverage across the continent, I plan to leverage their platform to get access across West Africa | |
| 12/28 | Accra, Ghana | Meeting with MTN Ghana Mobile Money team (Largest telco in Ghana) and possibly the CEO | MTN has the largest agent network in Africa, its necessary to partner with them for pilot and launch and also to validate my assumptions | |
| 12/29 | Accra, Ghana | Meeting with Startup G* team (fintech startup) | ||
| 12/30 | Accra, Ghana | Visit to cluster of mobile money agents in Osu market | Understanding how agents in this locality serve customers and testing my hypothesis and assumptions |
This student traveled to multiple cities in Australia to meet with experts and innovators in the circular and sustainable fashion space to learn best practices in their work and how it can be applied to starting a business.
| Location | Date | Activity/Description | Reason for Activity (how this will help you) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 1-Mar | Company A* Meetings - Program Director, TAG team | Seamless Scheme - better understand scheme structure, incentives, management, etc. |
| Sydney | 2-Mar | Person A*, Professor, Fashion & Textiles (University of Technology, Sydney) | Materials / Design - Understand biggest areas of opportunity with material innovation and circular design principles |
| Sydney | 3-Mar | Person B*, GM Terracycle Australia & NZ | End of Life / Recycle - Understand Recycled Fashion Material Business and Opportunities |
| Sydney | 4-Mar | Founder Meeting - Person C*, Company B* | Certified B-Corp, Award Winner (Vogue) / Speaker on Sustainability in Fashion - Company B* is proudly B Corp certified and combines algorithms and on-demand manufacturing to create the future of fashion today: default sustainable, ethical and custom made. |
| Sydney | 4-Mar | Founder Meeting - Person D*, Company C* | Winner of 2023 Sustainable Designer of the year |
| Sydney | 5-Mar | Founder meetings - Person E*, .Company D* | Materials / Design - Company D* is Australia's leading sustainable textile & circular design sourcing event for the fashion industry, that is dedicated to transforming the way in which raw materials are sourced, processed and consumed. |
| Sydney | 5-Mar | Founder meetings - Person F*, Company E* | Use / Re-Use - Understand business opportunity from recommerce, rental, resale, and repair programs for brands |
| Brisbane | 6-Mar | Queensland University of Technology meetings | Seamless Founding Member, understand view on biggest areas of opportunity for scheme success |
| Brisbane | 7-Mar | Minister for Environment and Water | Seamless Founding Member, understand view on biggest areas of opportunity for scheme success |
| Brisbane | 8-Mar | Person G* - Lecturer, Researcher, Circular Apparel Design (TAFE Queensland) | Understand challenges and opportunities for circular design principle adoption for brands |
| Brisbane | 9-Mar | Company F* Headquarters | Seamless Founding Member + Board of Director, understand existing solutions and explored solutions to meet circular targets |
| Brisbane | 9-Mar | Company F* Store Visit - Worker / Customer Interviews | Sustainable Product In Practice - Worker & Consumer Perspective on purchase behavior and demand |
| Brisbane | 10-Mar | Founder meeting - Person H*, Company G* | Circular Business Model - Company G* makes closed loop, recycled wool blankets using offcuts from the factory floor of Australia’s oldest mill in Tasmania. |
| Gold Coast | 11-Mar | Company H* Store Visit - Terracycle Dropbox - Worker / Customer Interviews | Product Recycling in Practice - Worker & Consumer Perspective on recycling program uptake / barriers to uptake |
| Gold Coast | 12-Mar | Weekend - Off | |
| Gold Coast | 13-Mar | Person J*, Cotton Leader, Company J* Founder | Material Innovation + Circular Business Development - Understand opportunities from Australian Regenerative Organic Cotton, Designing a circular fashion brand |
| Gold Coast | 13-Mar | Company J* Manufacturing Facility Visit | Manufacturing - See sustainable manufacturing principles in practice |
| Broader Queensland | 14-Mar | Day trip to Better Cotton Farm | Material - Learn about Australian Cotton Standards, mBS measurement system, challenges / opportunities for locally sourcing |
| 15-Mar | Fly back to Melbourne | ||
| Melbourne | 15-Mar | Australian Fashion Council | Seamless Founding Member + Board of Director, understand existing solutions and explored solutions to meet circular targets |
| Melbourne | 16-Mar | Person K* (Former CEO, Company K* Founder) | Design & manufacturing partner for knitwear brands, working toward a circular economy. |
| Melbourne | 16-Mar | Person L*, Company L* (Seamless Board of Directors) | Seamless Founding Member + Board of Director, understand existing solutions and explored solutions to meet circular targets |
| Clayton | 17-Mar | Person M*, Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Research on circular business models |
| Torquay | 18-Mar | Company H* Headquarters | Seamless Founding Member + Board of Director, Understand Prioritization Within Corporate Structure |
| 19-Mar | Trip Complete - Back to Chicago |