The winner of Operation Launchpad number one has arrived at the incubator. It is an exciting time at SBTI to have introduced such a competition and to begin the incubation of its first winner.
The top scoring entrant was Ajay Lalloo, who submitted a worthy concept in the cellular phone industry.
The competition is not limited, however, to any specific technology sector but is open to all entrepreneurs in the information, communications and electronics technology (ICT&E) fields, who are in the start-up or early stages of developing their business.
Lalloo is the thankful recipient of the prize of R150 000 in seed funding (cash R60 000 plus R90 000 office suite and coaching). The prize will be used to prove the technical concept, further develop the business case and leverage additional funding.
The competition was opened on 21 March for entries to be submitted before 27 April. In all, 34 entries were submitted, ranging from concept stage ideas to existing businesses. The highest rating received by the judges, based on the competition criteria, was 80%. The final stage of the competition was to interview the entrepreneurs who submitted the top scoring entries, after which a winner was selected. The post-competition activities comprised a workshop that was open to all entrants and free coaching to promising candidates.
SBTI strives to assist all ICT&E entrepreneurs in the concept, start-up and early stages of their business. We offer coaching services and office suites to entrepreneurs with promising products and services. In line with this, we saw the need to provide seed funding through the vehicle of a competition, along with coaching, an office suite and networking.
Look out for the re-opening of the competition for submissions in September 2007.
Queries may be forwarded to the Enterprise Development Manager, Craig Aaron, by e-mail on craig@sbti.co.za.
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