Founders of Cape Town-based iSpani, a brand activation tool that allows brands to connect directly with township markets through a platform, will head to Silicon Valley after being announced the winners of the One Giant Leap programme.
One Giant Leap is a 12-week programme launched in June, in which start-ups were invited to pitch "a tech idea that will disrupt the African continent". iSpani was named winner out of six other finalists last week and the team is expected to leave for Silicon Valley in the first quarter of 2018.
iSpani was established in May by 23-year-old final year UCT accounting student Patrick Machekera, 22-year-old BCom economics and marketing student at UCT Prince Nwadeyi of Queenstown, and Ntandoyenkosi Shezi, 22, a BSc finance student, from Port Shepstone KwaZulu-Natal. It identified a gap in the market for businesses struggling to access informal township markets.
Gerard Govender, executive director of iSpani, explains: "Our platform is essentially a mobile application at the front-end. Brand ambassadors complete a preloaded rating of a brand, input feedback, customer details to support their rating and submit it.
"This information, together with the geo-location, is sent to iSpani on a real-time basis. We are then able to run data analytics and provide this feedback to the respective brand. Our platform is currently in beta stage and we hope to obtain seed funding (possibly in Silicon Valley) to further develop the analytical capabilities of our platform."
Nwadeyi, who is chief executive, adds the team entered the competition to validate their business idea with knowledgeable investors, as well as obtain critical feedback from the judges around pitfalls and blind spots to be considered.
The team plans to make some operational progress in executing pilot projects in a few Western Cape townships prior to the US trip to illustrate shareholder value and further validate the business model.
Govender notes the aim is to establish the platform as a 'gateway into African townships', "Stakeholder relationships are a critical success factor to any business. We aim to use the trip to engage with investors, developers, marketing companies and prospective clients strategically aligned to our vision."
Tech entrepreneurs are invited to register here for One Giant Leap's next programme, starting in October.
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