Confidence isn’t something you teach a child. It’s something you nurture within them through trust and a genuine belief in their ability to rise to a real challenge. That’s the philosophy at the heart of Koa Academy’s Entrepreneurship Challenge. A deliberate piece of curriculum design rooted in one essential belief: young people grow most significantly not when they’re given answers, but when they’re trusted to find their own.
The Entrepreneurship Challenge: Project -based learning in action
Koa Academy understands the difference between teaching confidence and building it. The Entrepreneurship Challenge is the proof of that philosophy in action.
The Entrepreneurship Challenge is project-based learning at its most purposeful. Participants are guided through a structured programme with a step-by-step approach to developing a business concept, culminating in a pitch deck. But structure alone does not build confidence. Along the way, participants encounter setbacks, changing plans, and unexpected challenges. They are required to adapt, persevere, and keep moving forward, all within a supportive environment where they are encouraged to learn from mistakes, seek guidance, and grow in confidence with every step.
“Our curriculum philosophy is rooted in the belief that confidence and resilience aren’t things you can simply teach, they’re built through experience. Through the Entrepreneurship Challenge, we create the conditions for that to happen. Students encounter setbacks, changing plans, and ideas that don’t work the first time. They have to adapt, persevere, and keep moving forward. And they do all of this within a supportive environment where they’re encouraged to learn from mistakes, seek guidance, and grow in confidence along the way. That’s what we’re really building: young people who know they can handle what comes next.” said Lauren Anderson, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Koa Academy, and judge for the 2026 Entrepreneurship Challenge.
“The businesses our participants created this year prove that project-based learning produces the type of skills future employers are seeking: resilience, original thinking, and the ability to tolerate ambiguity. What sets our winners apart isn’t just the quality of their business ideas; it’s that they’ve proven to themselves that they can take an idea from nothing to a fully realised pitch, and trust their own thinking every step of the way. That’s the outcome we’re chasing: students who don’t wait for permission to start, who see failure as part of the process, and who leave school knowing they’re capable because they’ve built that confidence through real challenge,” she added.
The Winners: Proof That Confidence Can Be Built
The Koa Academy Entrepreneurship Challenge 2026 winners represent the culmination of this approach, but they are not the only ones who succeeded. Every student who entered the challenge is part of the story, because every one of them experienced that moment when they realised they could trust themselves to figure something out.
Abena Opeibea Anie-Budu, Venture Partner at MEST Africa and Entrepreneur Challenge judge said, “Building something from scratch is uncomfortable, full stop. What impressed me is that these students leaned into that discomfort rather than waiting for it to go away. That’s the real entrepreneurial skill.”
Senior Category Winner
Siblings: Caleb and Simeon de Greef – 10 and 12 years old
Project: InventZA – Proudly SA Engineering Boxes
Simeon said, “This challenge taught me the importance of teamwork. We faced many obstacles and didn’t always agree, but in the end, we were able to come to an agreement and work through it together.” Caleb added, “The most rewarding part of this challenge was making it to the finals and learning something I never thought was possible – starting my own business!”
Prizes: R5,000 cash from Koa Academy, website set up with Adbot and one hour, one-on-one mentorship session with experienced entrepreneur, Elijah Djan, Co-Founder of Flintr
Senior Category Runner-Up
Aiden Getkate – 14 years old
Project: Aiden’s Epic Work: Making use of E-waste to Refurbish Devices
When asked what he is taking from the experience of The Entrepreneur Challenge Adien said,”I enjoyed learning new things about business. It made me realise my business has big potential”.
Prizes: R3,000 cash from Koa Academy and one-hour one-to-one mentorship session with experienced entrepreneur, Danei Rall, Co-Founder of Flintr.
Junior Category Winner
Ryan Wagner – 11 years old
Project: Ryan’s Bug Class Co-op: Selling Bug Boxes & Having Online Classes
“The Entrepreneurship Challenge helped me realise that my love for bugs could become a real business. Seeing families buy my Bug Fact Cards and Bug Surprise Boxes gave me the confidence to believe that other kids can learn to love the unloved things too,” says Ryan.
Prizes: R5,000 cash from Koa Academy, Logo and Brand Identity Design with The Creative Lab and one-hour one-on-one mentoring session with experienced entrepreneur, Kylie Jane, Founder of Sanrae.
Junior Category Runner-Up
Amani Alli – 12 years old
Project: Busy Bee Pads: Makes “Fidget Pads” for Children with ADHD
“The most rewarding part of the challenge was turning an idea into a real product and making my first sale. Knowing that people in my community were willing to support something I created showed me that age should never stop you from pursuing an idea” said Amani.
Prizes: R3,000 cash from Koa Academy and a one-hour one-on-one mentoring session with experienced entrepreneur, Milan Rendall, Co-Founder of The Bowling Club.
“What I saw across these projects was something that takes most entrepreneurs years to develop: the guts to go beyond an idea and find your first customer. This programme was practical enough to help many kids find their first customer and revenue”, said Danei Rall, Co-Founder of Flintr
Why This Matters Now: Skills for 2030
In South Africa, where youth unemployment sits above 45% for 15 to 24-year-olds (Stats SA), equipping young people with the adaptability, resilience and self-belief to thrive in the workplace has never been more important.
The timing isn’t accidental. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies resilience, curiosity, and the ability to tolerate ambiguity among the fastest-rising skills employers are actively seeking by 2030. These aren’t skills you memorise. They’re built through experience, through challenge, through the kind of real-world learning that Koa’s Entrepreneurship Challenge was designed to deliver. In South Africa, giving young people that opportunity isn’t just good education. It’s a long-term investment in who they become.
Youth Month Beyond Acknowledgement: Genuine Student Empowerment
Koa Academy demonstrates what happens when a school moves from just acknowledgement to genuine student empowerment. Rather than celebrating young South Africans in the abstract, Koa backs its students with real challenges that go beyond a textbook, real trust that allows students room to find their own answers, real industry expertise from judges and mentors who have scaled businesses themselves, and real outcomes that prove confidence is a buildable result when the learning environment is designed for it.
The Entrepreneurship Challenge winners are the proof. But every student who entered is part of the story.
For more information visit Koa Academy at https://koaacademy.com
