Turning Job Seekers into Job Creators.
The Kidpreneur is a practice space where children aged 8 to 18 build a real business one decision at a time, in English or Amharic.
Built for ages 8 to 18. Played in 15 schools during the pilot.
BirrhanuA buyer who wants everything is tempting. Think about what each pair cost you to make.
What will you do?You were asking 50 birr a pair.
About The Kidpreneur
The Kidpreneur is a practice space where children aged 8 to 18 run a business of their own and see what each decision earns.
It grew out of ten years of volunteer entrepreneurship teaching with 4H Ethiopia, now Memhir Institute. The first version ran as a free pilot in 15 schools, with an instructor in the room.
Our vision
Every young person in Africa grows up knowing they can create opportunity, not just wait for it.
Our mission
To make simulation-based entrepreneurship education as standard in African schools as reading and mathematics.
Meet the guide
Birrhanu is the guide inside the game. Tap a question for an answer our team wrote, or ask your own and he answers live, at your child's age, only about business and money.
I'm Birrhanu, your guide. Pick your age, then ask me anything about business, or tap a question. Tap me, and watch your savings grow.
Your voice is sent only to answer your question. We do not keep the recording.
Or tap a question
Ready to practise for real? Open the game
The problem
We call it an agency deficit. Children are rarely asked to make a real decision and live with what it earns, so they learn to wait for opportunity instead of making it. Four things keep it that way.
Money and business are often treated as taboo. Entrepreneurship is seen as unethical, or only for the rich.
Entrepreneurship is left out of Grades 1 to 12 in most African countries.
Most learning apps rely on video lectures, and nobody learns to make decisions by watching.
One-size-fits-all lessons never connect the ideas to a child’s own street, family or market.
The Kidpreneur turns each one around: a business your child chooses, decisions they make, and a result they can see.
How it works
Five steps, in this order. Each one opens the next.
Birrhanu follows along.
Step 1
Your child chooses something they could really sell: tire sandals, phone accessories, kolo.
Step 2
A buyer haggles, a supplier is late, rubber costs more. Every call moves the Birr balance.
Step 3
Nine blocks of a business plan, one question at a time. Vague answers get sent back.
Step 4
Five practice customers, played by the AI, answer. Count the answers and change the idea before spending money.
Step 5
Once a parent approves, the business gets its own shop page that buyers can order from.
Three modes
Your child starts by making decisions, then plans the business, then tests it on practice customers played by the AI. Each mode opens the next.
Who it is for
Ages 8 to 18. Everyone starts here.
Ten stages of a business your child picked. At each one a customer, a supplier or a problem turns up, and every choice moves the Birr balance.
Inside
What your child keeps
A feel for money, customers and trade-offs.
Who it is for
Ages 8 to 18. Opens after a short planning check.
Nine blocks of a business plan, one question at a time. Birrhanu pushes back on vague answers until the plan is specific.
Inside
What your child keeps
A full business plan, and a shop page once you approve it.
Who it is for
Older students. Opens after three finished Quests and a Builder website our team has approved.
They test one idea on practice customers played by the AI, count the answers, and change the idea before spending money on it.
Inside
What your child keeps
Practice at testing an idea, before money is spent.
Not just a game. Every mode is grounded in methodology real entrepreneurs and founders use.
The same 9-block framework used by 470+ practitioners worldwide to plan a business before building it.
In Builder Mode
Ideate, test, and learn. The same iterative cycle used by IDEO and Stanford’s d.school.
In Startup Mode
Build, measure, learn. Validate an idea before spending time or money building it.
In Startup Mode
The same 10 competencies taught in EMPRETEC, the UN’s global entrepreneurship program.
In Quest Mode
EMPRETEC is a programme of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Kidpreneur is independently developed and not affiliated with or endorsed by UNCTAD. Business Model Canvas by Strategyzer AG, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
See it in action
From the problem we solve to the kids we empower: the full Kidpreneur story.
300+
students in the pilot
15
schools
36
letters of intent signed
90%
completed it with an instructor in the room
70%+
did something real with their business, beyond the game
The pilot was free, run with 4H Ethiopia, now Memhir Institute.
Photo: Şeyhmus Kino, Pexels
These are businesses children have published on The Kidpreneur. Your move from the round above lands here too.
Play the round up top and you will show up here.
Play the round on this page and your move shows up here.
When the plan is done, it can become a real shop page. Nothing goes public until a parent says yes. You are the parent here: try it.
Selam’s business plan
9 of 9 blocks donePrivate until a parent says yes
One practice space, four ways in.
Run a business of your own, one call at a time.
See moreSee every decision, and say yes before anything goes public.
See moreYour students run real businesses in class, and you never collect a fee.
See morePay for children’s seats and follow their progress from a live view.
See moreBuilt for care
Real answers to what parents actually ask.
A shop page, a name, a product: none of it is shown to anyone until a parent approves it.
Children sign in with a username and a PIN. We never ask a child for an email address.
Every scenario and every question works in both languages.
The pilot ran in 15 schools with an instructor present. 90% of students completed it that way.
How we collect, use and protect your child’s data is set out in our privacy policy.
Read the privacy policyEvery young person in Africa grows up knowing they can create opportunity, not just wait for it.