Pretoria, 28 Nov 2014
In celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2014 and the implementation of Gauteng's Innovation Strategy to promote innovation, grow intellectual property and support the development of small enterprises within the biosciences, ICT, green economy and medical sectors, The Innovation Hub is pleased to announce the winners of the prestigious Gauteng Accelerator Programme Innovation Competitions for 2014.
These awards honour top innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs for exemplary work in the green and health technology sectors; the biosciences; and the ICT sectors. The awards ceremony attracted everyone from dignitaries to tertiary students. Among the dignitaries attending the awards were Tembeka Mhlekwa from the City of Tshwane; Swedish Ambassador to South Africa, Anders Hagelberg; Prof Rivka Kfir, Interim CEO of TIA; and Thuli Radebe, CEO of CPSI.
This year's GAP Awards introduced a new level of innovation into the competition. The winners walked away with a total of R2.8 million (cash and seed fund) and will be incubated and provided with other value-added services to assist in the commercialisation of the technologies at The Innovation Hub for a year. The prizes and support for the programmes were made possible by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), Pfizer, MSD, Emory University, Smart Living Challenges and TIH. The winners were chosen by adjudication panels consisting of national and international industry experts, entrepreneurs and field specialists.
The awards were as follows:
Representing the highest level of work in ICT-based solutions, such as mobile applications, the GAP ICT award winners are:
1st place: Irvan Damons - Carbon Track - R60 000 cash and R200 000 seed
2nd place: William Mapham - Vula Eye Care - R45 000 cash and R150 000 seed
3rd place: Klaas Dikobe - Smart Plug - R30 000 cash and R100 000 seed
4th place: Desmond Mongwe - MoWallet - R15 000 cash and R50 000 seed
Addressing socio-economic challenges working on green technologies, the GAP Green award winners are:
1st place: Mpho Mokoena - Ultrasonic biodiesel processing - R60 000 cash and R240 000 seed
2nd place: Andre Nel - Green Tower - R40 000 cash and R160 000 seed
3rd place: Sizwe Mnamatha - Zuka - R20 000 cash and R80 000 seed
4th place: Ming Zhang - Heat Pump Dryer - R10 000 cash and R40 000 seed
In recognising entrepreneurs for their accomplishments and breakthroughs in the biosciences sector, winners of the GAP Bioscience awards are:
1st place: Lesley Scot, Ela Romanowska and Wendy Stevens - SmartSpot - R500 000 seed funding
2nd place: Candice Van Wyk and Francien Botha - CandidaFree Natural - R300 000 seed funding
3rd place: Rajesh Lalloo, Dusty Gardiner and Busi Mtsweni - OptimusBio - R200 000 seed funding
In identifying health technology innovations that contribute to the improvement of healthcare service delivery, the GAP Medical award winners are:
1st place: Shannon Mcmurtrie - Nervitol - R200 000 seed funding
2nd place: Sateesh Isseri - S-Tip - R150 000 seed funding
3rd place: Drew Van Der Riet - Advanced Prosthetics Engineering - R100 000 seed funding
For information on past competitions, visit: http://www.theinnovationhub.com/gap/bio-past-competitions/.
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