LaunchLab awards six innovative student entrepreneurs in retail

From left Charl Cillie (SwiftPay), Jacobus Kriel (Grocer-E), Michael Clampett (ATTACQ Head of Asset Management), Werner Mostert (Spatial Edge), Brandon Pascal (LaunchLab’s Operational Manager), Courtney Bentley (Visibiliti Insight), Anneli Krige Nel (Slippy) and JD Naude (SwiftPay)

More than 50 aspiring and practising entrepreneurs and enthusiasts from the retail, technology and property industries attended briefing workshops in both provinces and, from the submissions, entries were narrowed down to the top ten finalists. The finalists pitched their retail innovation ideas on 19 October 2016 at the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab to a panel of judges consisting of six senior executives selected from Attacq, Coronation and the LaunchLab.

Following a strict adjudication process, six winners were announced and awarded seed funding of R100,000, as well as incubation support from the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab.

The Attacq Retail Innovation Challenge winners, who will proceed to the Knowledge Acceleration and LaunchLab Lift-Off Programmes, are:

• Anneli Krige Nel from Slippy - A digital receipt tool
  
• Jacobus Kriel from Grocer - EMerging e-commerce with retail
  
• Bradley Hornby from WizzPass - A solution for paying for parking at controlled access parking
  
• JD Naude and Charl Cillie from SwiftPay - A RFID inventory tracking and queue eliminator
  
• Courtney Bentley from Visibiliti Insight - A platform to track revenue trends and make recommendations
  
• Werner Mostert from Spatial Edge - Assisting shopping centre owners understand and engage with customers using big data and analytics

“We were impressed with the high quality of pitches at the final event. Our intention was to access new ideas and create the next breakthrough innovation in retail by addressing the e-commerce needs of our clients and customers. The submission had to enhance the customer’s experience of comfort and convenience, as well as solve payment issues within the Attacq portfolio and overcome general operational issues that may arise,” said Michael Clampett, head of asset management at Attacq. “Attacq will carefully monitor the development of these six winning business ideas in the next six months to gauge their potential and value-add to our existing clientele.”

“LaunchLab’s Breakthrough Innovation Platform is ideal for established businesses that are looking to tap into new markets and future revenue streams by accessing new external breakthrough ideas,” said Philip Marais, LaunchLab’s CEO.

“External business ecosystems such as LaunchLab are far better equipped to incubate new creative ideas effectively and efficiently. The established business can stick with its proven business model, while LaunchLab helps budding entrepreneurs discover new business models. LaunchLab monitors the progress of their business ideas and mentors the entrepreneur, with assistance from the established business, through the LaunchLab Lift-Off Programme process.”

For more information, go to www.launchlab.co.za.