Global Bootcamp training for young entrepreneurial science, tech innovators is open

Issued by The Innovation Hub
Tshwane, 02 Mar 2016

The Innovation Hub is one of the proud partners of the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Bootcamp, hosted by the US-based incubator, VentureWell, to be held on 12-15 April 2016.

The four-day regional GIST Bootcamp, in collaboration with the US Department of State's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), as well as the US Embassy, Pretoria, plans to empower entrepreneurial young science and technology innovators through practical training and mentoring offered by leading US industry experts and local partners with specialised knowledge.

Other service offerings include exposure and access to funding, which are incentives for the entrepreneurs to create innovative solutions that will better their respective regions through science and technology.

The GIST Bootcamp will create a pipeline for The Innovation Hub's various enterprise development programmes that seek to support, empower and expose entrepreneurs. Budding entrepreneurs accepted into the Bootcamp will be able to leverage off the various partners that it has established with other science and technology parks, research institutions and investors' networks.

The Bootcamp will consist of 40 teams of young people coming all over Africa, including South Africa and Nigeria. All participants will receive a certificate of completion from The University of Texas at Austin. VentureWell has chosen The Innovation Hub as their South African partner, as it is one of sub-Saharan Africa's leading science and technology that incubates world-class innovators such as Prof Lesley Scott and Dr Nicolaas Duneas, whose technologies have enhanced the healthcare system. The Innovation Hub is an agency of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development and a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency.

To enter the GIST Bootcamp entry: http://www.gistnetwork.org/

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VentureWell

VentureWell is a higher education network that cultivates revolutionary ideas and promising inventions. For nearly 20 years, we've been on a mission to launch new ventures from an emerging generation of young inventors driven to improve life for people and the planet. VentureWell has spent the last 20 years revolutionising higher education by building a community of faculty dedicated to instilling invention and entrepreneurship across campus. VentureWell funds faculty to create new courses and programmes in which students develop inventive ideas and gain the entrepreneurial skills they need to bring inventions to market. With VentureWell's support, almost 600 new courses and programmes have been established across 160 campuses nationwide to transform education, especially in science, engineering and business.

The Innovation Hub

The Innovation Hub, a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA), is Africa's first internationally accredited science park and a full member of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP). It is strategically located in Tshwane, South Africa's executive capital in the 'smart' province of Gauteng. As the leading knowledge-intensive business cluster in South Africa, The Innovation Hub implements initiatives identified in the Gauteng Innovation Strategy and Green Economy strategy to advance the economic development and growth of the province through innovation. The Innovation Hub has created a unique space for hi-tech entrepreneurs, world-class businesses, academics, researchers and venture capitalists to meet, network and prosper.

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