Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF)

What Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF) does

Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF) is a UK-registered charity and company limited by guarantee (charity no. 1112699), headquartered in London and founded in 2004–2006. Its mission is to empower young people, particularly in developing economies, with practical entrepreneurship skills to address youth unemployment and underemployment. The organisation designs and delivers experiential education programmes in which students do not merely learn business theory but actually plan, launch, and operate a real, profitable school-based enterprise as part of or alongside the formal curriculum.

TAMTF's product portfolio centres on the flagship School Enterprise Challenge (training teachers to support students in setting up a real business at school), the Enterprise Adventure (an independent learner journey supported by a free mobile app launched in its 2021 form during Global Entrepreneurship Week), and complementary programmes including the Early Years Enterprise Challenge and the Trash to Cash Challenge. Distribution occurs through three channels: in-curriculum embedding via formal partnerships with ministries of education (Nicaragua, Honduras) and direct school outreach; an online registration self-serve path for the School Enterprise Challenge; and the free Enterprise Adventure mobile app for individual teenagers. The charity provides free teacher webinars, training and consultancy, and tools and resources to support delivery.

As a non-profit, TAMTF generates no commercial revenue; its operating model relies on charitable donations and grants from foundations and institutional donors, including The Saville Foundation, the British & Foreign Schools Society, and Education Cannot Wait. It has reached approximately 90 countries through the School Enterprise Challenge, with nearly 2,000 school teams participating in the 2021 cohort and country-level deployments spanning Latin America (Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Paraguay), Africa (Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania), and Asia (India). Founder and CEO Nik Kafka received the 2022 Charles Bronfman Prize for innovative humanitarian work, and Martín Burt serves as board member and co-founder, reflecting a link with sister organisation Fundacion Paraguaya.

Name

Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF)

Legal name

Teach A Man To Fish UK Ltd

Website

https://teachamantofish.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF) is a UK-registered charity that empowers young people in developing economies with practical entrepreneurship skills through in-curriculum programmes, a free mobile app, and partnerships with ministries of education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Entrepreneurship Education

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Other Technical and Trade Schools (611519), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB), Entrepreneurship & Small Business Workforce Programs (EDAAAOAM), Marketing, Branding & Sales Skills (EDAMAHAG), Leadership, Management & Teamwork for Business (EDAMAHAI)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Youth enterprise programmes
• School business training
• Enterprise curriculum
• Vocational skills training

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable donations and grants: TAMTF is a registered charity (no. 1112699) that operates primarily through donations and grant funding from foundations and institutional donors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Teach A Man To Fish delivers practical entrepreneurship education programmes that train teachers and students to set up and run real, profitable youth-led enterprises at school, with parallel support for individual learners via a self-guided mobile app. Programmes such as the School Enterprise Challenge, Enterprise Adventure, Early Years Enterprise Challenge, and Trash to Cash Challenge are provided free of charge to participants in developing countries, funded by charitable donations and grants.

Product overview

Teach A Man To Fish operates as a unified educational platform with multiple interconnected programmes designed to empower young people with entrepreneurial skills. The core offerings include the School Enterprise Challenge (which trains teachers to guide students in setting up real school businesses) and the Enterprise Adventure (an independent journey programme with a companion mobile app). Additional programmes include Early Years Enterprise Challenge and Trash to Cash Challenge. The organisation also provides supporting resources including teacher webinars, tools, and training consultancy services. All programmes focus on practical entrepreneurship education to address youth unemployment and poverty worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• School Enterprise Challenge: A programme that develops young people's skills by training teachers to support students in setting up a real business at their school.
• Enterprise Adventure
• Trash to Cash Challenge
• Early Years Enterprise Challenge

Products and services

• School Enterprise Challenge Programme that develops young people's skills by training teachers to support students in setting up a real business at their school; delivered free of charge through partnerships with ministries of education and individual schools.
• Enterprise Adventure (with Mobile App) Programme that guides individual teenagers through an independent journey of planning and setting up their own social enterprise, delivered via a free mobile app for self-paced learning.
• Early Years Enterprise Challenge Enterprise education programme designed for early years learners to develop foundational entrepreneurial skills.
• Trash to Cash Challenge Programme encouraging young people to develop businesses based on waste reduction and recycling.
• Training and Consultancy Training and consultancy services supporting educators and organisations implementing enterprise education programmes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Near 2,000 school teams from 90 countries participated in the 2021 School Enterprise Challenge
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Fundacion ParaguayaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTAMTF's sister organisation based in Paraguay. Fundacion Paraguaya shares a similar mission and approach to youth entrepreneurship education, operating parallel programmes in Paraguay.
• Honduran Ministry of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Honduran Ministry of Education to deliver the School Enterprise Challenge as a pilot programme embedded in the national secondary school curriculum, supporting young people around the country.
• Nicaraguan Ministry of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education to run the School Enterprise Challenge in 165 Nicaraguan schools over three years, training teachers in experiential learning and practical business education delivery.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement): JA Worldwide is the largest global youth entrepreneurship education provider, running in-school programmes in 100+ countries that take students from financial literacy through to running real student companies. It is the closest direct peer to TAMTF in mission, methodology (real student-led businesses), and ministry-of-education distribution model.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): NFTE is a US-headquartered charity delivering entrepreneurship education programmes to young people from low-income communities, with a strong focus on real-business creation and teacher training. It directly competes for the same donor category (foundation grants) and serves overlapping student segments in emerging economies.
• Enactus: Enactus operates a global student entrepreneurship programme across 30+ countries, primarily at university level but with growing secondary-school reach. Its competition-driven, project-based model and corporate-funder base parallel TAMTF's School Enterprise Challenge structure and audience.
• Young Enterprise UK: Young Enterprise is a UK-based charity delivering enterprise and financial education programmes to schools and colleges, with the Team Programme that asks students to set up and run real student companies. It is the most direct domestic peer to TAMTF's School Enterprise Challenge and operates a near-identical teacher-mediated delivery model.
• INJAZ Al-Arab / Junior Achievement MENA: INJAZ is a network of independent JA affiliates operating across the MENA region delivering school-based entrepreneurship programmes. It is directly comparable in target demographic (school-age youth), partner schools model, and curriculum-based delivery in emerging markets.
• Aflatoun International: Aflatoun provides social and financial education curricula to children and young people in 100+ countries, partnering with schools and NGOs. While its focus is more on financial literacy and rights than full enterprise creation, it directly overlaps with TAMTF in target audience, developing-market distribution, and ministry-of-education integration approach.

Others

• Fundacion Paraguaya: Fundacion Paraguaya is explicitly described as TAMTF's sister organisation, running parallel youth entrepreneurship programmes in Paraguay with a self-sustaining school model. It is not a competitor but the most directly comparable operator on mission, and a potential model for organisational evolution toward revenue-generating enterprise schools.
• Ashoka: Ashoka is a global network identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs, including young people. While not a direct curricular competitor, it operates in adjacent territory (youth social enterprise) and competes with TAMTF for the same category of foundation funding and visibility within the social-enterprise ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• 4-H: 4-H is a large US-rooted youth development organisation operating globally with programmes in agriculture, civic engagement, and entrepreneurship. While much broader in scope than TAMTF, it overlaps in target audience (school-age youth), real-project-based learning, and rural developing-market presence — making it a broad incumbent comparator.
• BRAC Education Programme: BRAC operates one of the largest non-state education systems globally, including life-skills and enterprise components for youth in Bangladesh and across Africa. It is a broad incumbent competitor for foundation funding and government partnerships targeting youth livelihoods in low-income countries.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCqLcNExePO7OOvkAMIbVmFQ
• Xx.com/Nik_Kafka
• Facebookfacebook.com/teachamantofish
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/teach-a-man-to-fish_2

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF)