Business
Assess propositions, pricing, economics and commercial partnerships.
Refuture Build Studio / Business in Practice Fellowship
Bring your skills.
Build through practice.
Sixteen weeks of supervised work on real venture and business projects, with a defined role and room to learn.
For people with demonstrated business, research, product, marketing, sales or technology skills.
Register fellow interestLearn by doing the work
Make a contribution.
Develop your practice.
Work with an experienced practitioner and a multidisciplinary team to investigate opportunities, develop offers and test them with customers.
Assignments can sit within a Refuture-owned concept or an external business project. Your role follows project needs and your capabilities. We confirm funding and supervision for each role before making an offer.
The pilot is planned around one internal concept and up to two external engagements. Fellow selection is independent of who owns the project.
What will you bring?
Roles are matched to the work. We recruit a useful mix of skills.
Research
Understand customers, explore future changes and document evidence.
Product & design
Shape an offer and create a prototype people can try.
Marketing
Develop messages and test demand through focused experiments.
Sales
Explore acquisition, customer conversations and partnerships.
Technology
Build the tools or technical prototype the agreed test requires.
From evidence
to a business decision.
Apply futures thinking and foresight alongside research, business design and testing.
Understand
Review customer and operating evidence. Explore future changes and agree the assumptions worth testing.
Design
Develop the proposition, business model and prototype. Agree the test audience, budget and measures.
Test
Pilot with customers, track behaviour and commercial results, and adjust the offer using what you learn.
Decide
Review the evidence and economics. Agree whether to proceed, adapt or stop, and hand over the working materials.
Support and learning
A defined role.
A named supervisor.
- A project brief and work plan matched to your skills.
- Regular practitioner feedback and relevant specialist contributions.
- Experience in research, business design, prototyping and market testing.
- A learning record and review of your contribution at completion.
- Portfolio use of approved work, subject to permission and confidentiality.
Completion is assessed through your contribution, work quality, collaboration and learning.
Who should express interest
Show us your skills.
Bring curiosity and care.
You can demonstrate capability through professional work, a venture, a portfolio or a substantive project. You can deliver agreed tasks, work with uncertainty and collaborate with people from other disciplines.
The proposed commitment is approximately eight hours a week for sixteen weeks, with scheduled team sessions. Research or testing access in Kenya may be needed for some roles; working arrangements will be confirmed for each assignment.
An experienced Refuture lead owns project quality and decisions. Fellows contribute within agreed responsibilities and receive supervision.
Before you register
Clear roles.
Agreed expectations.
Is the fellowship compensated?
These are compensated practice roles, with no participation fee for selected fellows. Compensation, timing and working arrangements will be confirmed in the written role offer before you accept a place.
How will selection work?
This first step registers your interest. We will share confirmed role briefs, dates and the application process with relevant candidates. Selection considers skills, relevant work, availability and project fit. Shortlisted candidates will have a conversation and may discuss a relevant work sample.
Will I work on an internal or external venture?
Either, according to project needs and your capabilities. The fellowship can run on internally funded work, external commissions or both. Resources and supervision must be confirmed for every offered role.
Can I use the work in my portfolio?
Use of project materials and ownership of contributions will be agreed before work begins. Public portfolio use requires permission from the project owner. Completion does not automatically confer equity, employment or a founder role.
Register fellow interest
Tell us what you would bring.
Register your interest so we can match your skills with funded, supervised roles. We will share confirmed role briefs and recruitment steps with relevant candidates.
Fields without “optional” are required. Please share a summary rather than confidential documents or private customer information.
Submission received
Thank you for registering your interest.
We will review your submission and follow up by email about suitable next steps. Keep the confirmation reference below.
Questions or changes to your submission? Email hello@refuture.africa.
Have a business opportunity you want to test?
Explore the Business Build Sprint