Real Time Wine takes top honours at 2011 Tech4Africa

2 Nov 2011

Real Time Wine has been named as the winner of Samsung Ignite, an initiative that forms part of the 2011 Tech4Africa conference, which recognises start-ups that have developed revolutionary technological innovations that hold the potential to make a serious impact in the market.

Real Time Wine takes top honours at 2011 Tech4Africa

Real Time Wine was chosen at the close of the first day of this year's Tech4Africa conference in Bryanston, Johannesburg following presentations by eight shortlisted companies to a judging panel and conference delegates. The initiative, made possible through a partnership between Samsung Apps and Tech4Africa, was introduced this year to showcase and foster local technology development and mirrors the conference goal of promoting and inspiring the local industry.

"The Samsung Ignite platform aims to give start-ups great exposure and we were certainly very happy with the ideas and creativity that came out of this year's platform," says Paulo Ferreira, head of mobile products and business solutions at Samsung.

Buy wine by using smartphone apps

Real Time Wine won the judges' approval for its idea of offering a mobile platform aimed at the supermarket wine-buying audience that enables them to discover, review, engage with and buy wine using smartphone apps, game mechanics and barcode scanning. "I'm both honoured and surprised to have won as this was a concept pitch, which shows that one doesn't need a completed product in order to attract interest if your presentation and concept are top notch," says Andy Hadfield, originator of the idea.

Plot My Ride was named as first runner-up for its social networking service for the cycling community that allows the ability to capture, display, save and share a cyclist's riding activity. Second runner-up position went to SnapBill, an automated billing system that enables users to easily sell their services online. The remaining five shortlisted contestants include 10Layer, FeedbackRocket.com, iSign.pro, Mobiflock, and LessFuss.

"It's very gratifying to be able to contribute to the industry through initiatives such as this," comments Gareth Knight, Tech4Africa MD. "Having walked the path of developing a technology-driven business before, I can empathise with the many hundreds of developers and innovators out there trying to get that one big break. We believe the conference and Tech4Africa Ignite can help the industry improve and create awareness and buzz about the amazing ideas being developed in Africa."

Aside from the title of 2011 Samsung Ignite Winner, Real Time Wine won R50 000 in prize money and the benefit of the expected exposure and profiling through the Tech4Africa website and in media covering the event.