Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship and Venture Building
Entrepreneurship is taught almost everywhere as a subject and almost nowhere as an apprenticeship, which is why entrepreneurship graduates so rarely start anything. This programme inverts that. Students operate inside the Forward Venture St...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Founder and co-founder
- venture builder and studio associate
- product and growth lead
- business development manager
- investment analyst at a venture fund or accelerator
- enterprise development officer
- family business successor and operator
- innovation manager.
Employer types
- Self-employment and founding is the primary destination, supported by venture studios and accelerators
- venture capital and impact funds
- corporate innovation units
- small and medium enterprise development programmes
- family enterprises
- and high growth start ups.
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- Measured on venture survival and revenue rather than placement alone, with employed fallback roles in growth, business development and investment analysis.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship and Venture Building. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| DBF 110 | Venture Studio I: Problem Discovery and Customer Evidence Performance | 5 | 1-0-8 |
| DBF 111 | Accounting, Records and Business Finance Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| DBF 112 | Data and Spreadsheet Modelling for Founders Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| DBF 113 | Markets, Industries and Competitive Analysis Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| DBF 130 | Venture Studio II: Product Design and First Sale Performance | 5 | 1-0-8 |
| DBF 131 | Marketing, Sales and Distribution Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| DBF 132 | Business Law, Registration, Tax and Compliance Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| DBF 133 | Operations, Costing and Unit Economics Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recess term) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| DBF 210 | Venture Studio III: Traction and Growth Systems Performance | 5 | 1-0-8 |
| DBF 211 | Financial Modelling and Investment Readiness Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| DBF 212 | Technology and Intelligent Systems for Small Enterprise Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| DBF 213 | People, Hiring and Team Leadership Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| DBF 230 | Venture Studio IV: Scale, Governance and Capital Performance | 5 | 1-0-8 |
| DBF 231 | Negotiation and Deal Structuring Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| DBF 310 | Enterprise Placement or Founder Residency Performance | 5 | 0-0-0 |
| DBF 311 | Family Business, Succession and African Enterprise Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| DBF 330 | Venture Capstone: Trading Enterprise or Investment Committee Defence Performance | 8 | 0-2-14 |
| DBF 331 | Failure, Recovery and Ethical Enterprise Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
Total credit units: 133
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship and Venture Building
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1
Year 1 · this step is worth 23 CU
Cumulative
23
Programme total
132
23 CU of 132 CU completed by the end of this step (17%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and Persuasion CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Teaming CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Communication and Persuasion · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Teaming · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Identify and validate a real customer problem with evidence rather than assumption.
- PLO 2Design, price and test a product or service to a paying customer.
- PLO 3Build and defend a financial model, unit economics and funding requirement.
- PLO 4Register, govern, staff and legally operate an enterprise.
- PLO 5Sell, negotiate and raise capital from real counterparties.
- PLO 6Build and lead a small team through uncertainty and failure.
- PLO 7Apply technology, including intelligent systems, as leverage rather than decoration.
Why this programme exists
Entrepreneurship is taught almost everywhere as a subject and almost nowhere as an apprenticeship, which is why entrepreneurship graduates so rarely start anything. This programme inverts that. Students operate inside the Forward Venture St...
Admission requirements
UACE with two principal passes in any subjects, plus UCE with five passes including Mathematics and English. Applicants submit a short statement of a problem they want to work on; this is used for cohort composition, not for exclusion. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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