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Graduate scoops R100k start-up boost

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 05 May 2016
Happimo CEO Craig Rivett (left) and NMMU vice-chancellor professor Derrick Swartz (right) congratulate Martin Smuts.
Happimo CEO Craig Rivett (left) and NMMU vice-chancellor professor Derrick Swartz (right) congratulate Martin Smuts.

A Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Computing Sciences masters graduate, Martin Smuts, has received R100 000 for the growth of his start-up company, Avinci Consult.

Smuts is the first recipient of the Mandela Bay Entrepreneur Fellowship. The initiative was launched last year by NMMU and Happimo, a non-profit company that focuses on promoting entrepreneurship and implementing software that helps government departments solve technology-related problems in education, housing and security.

The R100 000 fellowship - the first of 10 to be awarded over the next 10 years - is only available to masters and PhD graduates from NMMU's Department of Computing Sciences and School of ICT, who commit to joining or launching a start-up initiative.

"Avinci Consult [a joint venture between Smuts and his business partner Henry Faul, a Computing Sciences third-year student at NMMU] has developed, among other things, a number of smart algorithms and systems that assist people to find appropriate investment vehicles, manage personal finances and calculate personal risk," says Smuts. "The fellowship money will be used to get our products to market."

The start-up also offers business process management tools, enterprise solutions and business intelligence.

Entrepreneur and NMMU alumnus Alan Knott-Craig Jr has underwritten the fellowship for 10 years.

"What they do with the money is up to them, as long as they commit at least 12 months to a start-up," says Knott-Craig Jr. "Most entrepreneurs just need 12 months' breathing room so they can get on their feet and pay the bills. Hopefully, the fellowship helps with this."

Craig Rivett, CEO of Happimo, says: "We are excited to announce the first winner of the Mandela Bay Fellowship. We look forward to seeing where they can take their start-up with the R100 000 seed money."

NMMU Computing Sciences professor Jean Greyling says selecting a winner was difficult. "The fellowship received a number of great proposals. The selection committee had a tough task in selecting a winner."

Criteria for the 2017 fellowship will be announced later this year.

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