Cell C joins Google to build mobile Internet ecosystem

With small and medium businesses being one of the largest drivers of employment and economic development in the country, the government is encouraging larger businesses to look at building up and supporting smaller companies.

Cell C's collaboration with Google is a step towards engaging potential innovators and building the mobile Internet ecosystem, which will, in turn, contribute to the South African economy.

The Umbono programme is a six-month incubation project for technology entrepreneurs hoping to get their products off the ground. Google, together with its angel investors, has selected four teams of entrepreneurs - and will select at least two more - to benefit from the incubation process.

The application process is open all year round and is accessible at: www.google.co.za/umbono.

Follow-on funding

The chosen teams will receive seed capital and mentorship from some of the world's and SA's hottest business leads to help them develop a solid business plan and prepare to get their products off the ground. It is expected that, at the end of the six months, the most successful teams will receive follow-on funding from the local venture-capital community or from investors overseas.

"Umbono aims to bring together all the elements necessary for tech start-ups to trial their ideas and ultimately attract additional rounds of investment to grow their businesses," said Luke Mckend, Google South Africa country manager.

"We've seen some great applications to the Umbono programme and we're delighted to welcome these particularly innovative start-ups on board. Throughout the programme, teams will not only benefit from local business mentorship, but also from the extensive mentorship network of Google experts."

Housed at The Hub

The five teams will be housed at The Hub in Cape Town, where they will have access to business facilities, like a boardroom and Internet access, which would otherwise have been difficult for the start-ups to fund themselves.

Cell C will be paying the fees for all five teams to be housed at The Hub and has installed state-of-the-art connectivity to ensure that the teams have everything they need to succeed.

"A project like this has not been undertaken in SA before, which is why Cell C joined forces with Google to make this a reality. Because innovation is a key value within Cell C as an organization, it makes sense that we put our efforts behind a project that encourages new ideas," said Simon Camerer, Cell C's executive head of marketing.

The bleeding edge of technology

As part of the programme, the teams will have access to Cell C product developers as mentors, and Cell C will have access to on the latest tools that local developers would like to see brought to market. "The new technologies that come out of the programme keep Cell C at the bleeding edge of technology innovation. These technologies will not only benefit people from across the globe, but also Cell C's customers," said Camerer.

Cell C hopes that the project will be a blueprint for other projects and encourage the growth of a wider variety of mobile, Internet and technology entrepreneurs in the future.

"With government supporting the millennium development goals of job creation and economic development, we are confident that the innovations that come out of the project will contribute towards our social and economic development," said Mercia Maserumule, Cell C's CSI manager.