BEL Initiative incubates it’s first startup Haispot.com, an eCommerce platform!

A LONG JOURNEY

The BEL team loves to celebrate when we get to experience exciting moments with entrepreneurs. One of these moments has been in the works since 2019 during training at the JPEC of the university of Iowa when entrepreneurship instructor, John Engel pitched an idea of a subscription box full of Haitian products to share with the world to the 2019 BEL cohort. All the efforts came to fruition roughly a month ago when two 2019 fellows, along with the chairman launched an e-commerce platform to help increase exportation in Haiti and bring more awareness to the Haitian specialty food industry. The goal is also to give the diaspora and others who love Haitian cuisine and culture easy access to products that come directly from Haiti. This allows not only Haitian gastronomy but also craft, literature and culture to gain further exposure while businesswomen and men can have access to the U.S. market. This is exciting news since we believe Haiti is a developed nation in our lifetime.

A BI NATIONAL TEAM

Joseph Kendy Jules, who applied to BEL as the cofounder of agricultural transformation company Agrigou, played a key role in team coordination as well as management of vendors and inventory. Dr. Edwin Magloire, who runs the brand building company brandpill, oversaw the Business Model Generation process and overall marketing strategy. The branding of the platform is also his handy work with close collaboration with the development team. Our chairman, Dr. Ronald Cetoute, who is of Haitian descent, oversaw the whole incubation process and played match maker, connecting the necessary resources to train, mentor and coach the Haitian teams while facilitating the legal, financial and logistical aspects of the business.

HAISPOT.COM SAYS BONJOU TO THE WORLD

Haispot.com is currently shipping throughout the U.S. So far, the e-commerce site received support from Haitians buying products from New York, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, and Iowa! With a storage location in Atlanta, GA, Haispot.com is able to ship Haitian products to their customers quickly and provide a platform for vendors who want to ship directly from Haiti. The platform currently has 20 vendors enrolled with 58 items.

THE PRIDE OF THE NATION

Haispot.com is about Haitian commerce, cuisine and culture. It has the potential to become the face of Haiti, meaning that when someone googles Haiti, they can see our beautiful culture in all its glory. Which will not only impact exportation but create a new country brand for Haiti that will rollover to tourism efforts.

BE A PART OF THE JOURNEY IN 5 STEPS

Take some time to support this achievement and help sustain it by 

  1. Visiting the website and buying your favorite product from Haiti,
  2. Creating a Haispot account on the website and
  3. Leaving a comment
  4. Sharing this article with a friend, may it be a vendor, a potential partner or a buyer.

We have a lot more cooking and you don’t want to miss it. So be sure to 5. Follow Haispot.com social media pages below.

Instagram: @haispot.ecommerce    Facebook: @haispot.ecommerce

With love from Haiti.