South African based IBM together with Johannesburg’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct have announced the launch of a start-up accelerator.
The programme is designed to enable the development of growth-stage tech start-ups, and will run for six weeks from early October using a bootcamp format. It will focus on enablement and development through a series of short, intensive and rigorous modules.
Tshimologong Precinct’s enterprise development manager; Shaun Randles said “Growing technology start-ups has long been a focus of the precinct and we are pleased to partner with IBM South Africa to further develop this vital segment of the market. This bootcamp is centred on investment, one of the critical elements of any growing business. We look forward to working with the teams to make a bottom-line investment in tomorrow’s future technology leaders.”
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Each module is specifically selected to address skills, resources, infrastructure and technology growth within the start-up. The bootcamp culminates in an investment proposal and pitch whereby the winning participants stand in line to win up to ZAR500,000 (US$33,000) in required products and services.
The accelerator is an initiative of the Enterprise Development Programme (EDP), one of the three streams of the IBM South Africa Equity Equivalence Investment Programme (EEIP). The EDP is focused on the enablement of entrepreneurs, and businesses with a highly specialised ICT focus on globally relevant areas of technology such as Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things and Cybersecurity, amongst other things.
The tech start-ups need to demonstrate how the funding will be used to accelerate the business in order to win the investment.
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