About

The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology – or MEST – was established in Accra, Ghana, through the non-profit Meltwater Foundation, with the aim of creating jobs and wealth locally in Africa by training young Africans to become software entrepreneurs. During the intensive two-year program at MEST, Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) work with experienced business executives, university graduates and current MBA students from top universities worldwide to develop software applications and prepare them for launch in the global marketplace.

It's About the Power of the People

The MEST concept was developed by Jorn Lyseggen, CEO of the Meltwater Group, a global Software as a Service (SaaS) company founded in Norway in 2001. The inspiration for MEST is a direct result of the culture that Lyseggen created at Meltwater. He believes that talent is everywhere, and that with the right support and guidance people can achieve great things. This belief is the foundation for MEST, which is proving that a new generation of young, successful global software entrepreneurs can originate in Africa.

MEST's vision is to create wealth and jobs locally in Africa. By training and mentoring young Africans to start their own software companies that compete successfully in the global marketplace, MEST aims to establish a generation of software entrepreneurs who inspire generations to follow in their footsteps. Our geographic focus is currently on Accra, Ghana, but we hope that a sense of pride and hope will ripple across the African continent and encourage similar initiatives everywhere. It is our desire that the companies launched through the MEST program will inspire a future prosperous technology industry in Africa.

MEST is fully funded and run by Meltwater Group through our non-profit organization, Meltwater Foundation.

MEST Timeline