Launchlab's Ideas Programme supports entrepreneurial talent of caliber
Launchlab concluded another successful Ideas Programme, a bi-annual competition that is run on all four of the public university campuses in the Western Cape as well as the technical vocational education training institution, False Bay College. The competition is open to all students and other aspiring entrepreneurs from the broader community in the Western Cape and includes a three-day Ideas Workshop and Pitching Platform. On 14 October at the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab, seventeen aspiring entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges and a live audience.
Rasffi
This semester's Ideas Programme was enabled through support from the Western Cape Government's Department of Economic Development and Tourism as well as industry partners, Nedbank, Multichoice and Woolworths. Participants were able to submit business ideas as solutions to challenges posed by industry partners within the following categories: Payments and Big Data, Paid Media, Cleantech, Agritech, and Education. The Ideas Programme is an exceptional platform for industry partners to access breakthrough innovation that the LaunchLab can then incubate on their behalf.
"The pitching platform gives entrepreneurs the chance to step out of their comfort zone and to share their ideas in front of a critical panel of judges and a knowledgeable audience. Developing savvy solutions for real world problems is something Nedbank really believes in and is proud to support," says Chris Wood, Head of Emerging Payments and Strategy at Nedbank.
Support for innovation and entrepreneurship
The LaunchLab is an initiative of Innovus, the Stellenbosch University's (SU) industry interaction and innovation company. Led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Anita Nel, Innovus is responsible for innovation, entrepreneurial support and development.
"Initiatives like Pitching Platform need the support of key ecosystem partners like government, universities and industry. It is indeed a key platform that contributes to enabling a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Western Cape. We started this competition at SU in 2012 and have subsequently incrementally expanded the opportunity to entrepreneurs from other education institutions and the broader Western Cape. It is essential to allow grassroots entrepreneurs to thrive and positively elevate society and the economy," comments Nel.
Entrants of caliber
Philip Marais, the CEO of the LaunchLab announced the winners, saying that seventeen was a record number of finalists and expressed that the caliber of entrants is a reflection of the entrepreneurial potential in the Western Cape. "The Pitching Platform winners showcased the true potential of aspiring local entrepreneurs who are dynamic and have innovative, commercially viable business ideas," says Marais. "I am excited by the opportunity the LaunchLab provides and to see entrants grow to new levels through our acceleration programmes that help young entrepreneurs understand their entrepreneurial profiles and validate their business models," adds Marais.
The LaunchLab received a total of 108 video business pitch entries. Seventeen finalists pitched at the Pitching Platform final and, the judges chose nine winners who each won a share of seed funding which is to be used to launch or grow their businesses. Here are the vertical category winners:
Payments and Big Data
• Rasffi - USSD to cancel lost or stolen bank and credit cards.
• Hand Up - App for taxi commuters to know when a taxi will be arriving and where it will be going.
• Eatime Airtime - A way to pay for small items at retail outlets and send contacts a voucher that can be redeemed at participating outlets using USSD.
Education Technology
• CyFi - An online platform for educational content, exercises and tools to be distributed with access via subscription.
• Brands for Literacy - Printing a code on packaging that can be scanned and used to display large amounts of content on a smartphone without internet connection.
• Student Hub - An online platform to buy and sell used textbooks.
Clean Technology
• Kwikdrink - Clean water filtration systems that you gain access to by purchasing a bottle with a chip embedded in it, and you can also display digital content while the consumer waits.
Paid Media
• Cuppa Campus - Cheaper coffee sales subsidised by advertising on coffee cups, and diversifying into various other areas.
Exceptional
• List - a tool to remember names of those you meet via the context in which you met them.
