TechnoServe Will Create Enterprise Development Academy to Boost Small Business Growth and Job Creation around the World
The initiative to strengthen local enterprise support organizations is expected to benefit at least 50,000 businesses across Africa, Latin America, and Asia
ARLINGTON, VA (July 8, 2025) – International nonprofit TechnoServe today announced the formation of the Enterprise Development Academy. This ambitious initiative, funded in part by a grant from the Argidius Foundation, will create a comprehensive digital training platform to strengthen local enterprise support organizations (ESOs) across low and middle-income countries. The Academy aims to equip local nonprofits, government institutions, and companies with the knowledge and tools needed to help small businesses grow, increase their revenues, and create jobs.
For decades, TechnoServe has supported the growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises through training, mentorship, improved access to finance and markets, and a stronger enabling environment. In 2024 alone, it is estimated that these programs helped more than 300,000 people earn an additional $213 million in increased revenue.
This new initiative will help to address an important gap in the enterprise development ecosystem: local organizations providing business development services often lack the technical, organizational, and financial capacity to help entrepreneurs reach their full potential. The Enterprise Development Academy directly addresses this challenge by packaging TechnoServe’s proven methodologies and other leading resources like the Argidius SCALE toolkit into a single, accessible e-learning platform.
“Across our work, we have seen that strengthening local partners is essential for creating scalable and lasting impact,” said Juan Carlos Thomas, TechnoServe’s vice president of entrepreneurship and new ventures. “By building the capacity of local ESOs, we are not just supporting individual businesses, but strengthening the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem to foster economic growth and job creation for years to come.”
The Enterprise Development Academy’s curriculum will focus on critical skills, such as:
- Segmenting and targeting entrepreneurs
- Making business education relevant and engaging
- Providing strategic advisory services
- Evaluating and communicating impact
- Implementing data-driven improvements to business development services
With digital modules in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, the platform will build on TechnoServe’s extensive experience in digitizing training programs to increase reach and cost-effectiveness.
In its initial phase, the Academy will leverage existing TechnoServe programs to strengthen 199 ESOs within four years, benefiting approximately 20,000 enterprises. Broader dissemination of the Academy’s learning resources is expected to bring the total reach of the program to nearly 50,000 businesses in five years.
“There is an enormous opportunity to scale this initiative even further,” said Thomas. “We look forward to working with more partners from the private, public, and philanthropic sectors to bring this cutting-edge support to more ESOs around the world.”
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About TechnoServe
Founded in 1968, TechnoServe is a leader in harnessing the power of the private sector to help people lift themselves out of poverty for good. A non-profit organization working in around 35 countries, we work with people to build a better future through regenerative farms, businesses, and markets that increase incomes. Our vision is a sustainable world where all people in low-income communities have the opportunity to prosper.
More information at: Twitter @TechnoServe | Facebook @TechnoServe | LinkedIn @TechnoServe
