Local company MS Innovations is one of 30 start-ups from 16 countries participating in the 8th edition of the Launch: Silicon Valley's world cup tech challenge taking place on 20 May in California.
The start-up has developed Mustard Seed - a management and communication system for schools. It provides a platform to encompass modern technology from e-learning tools, online marketing, mobile device sales, recruitment and sponsorship opportunities for students and teachers.
The competition consists of five different groups, where each start-up will each be representing the next generation of emerging technology.
According to the Launch: Silicon Valley Web site, the start-ups will pitch their products to a panel of top Silicon Valley and international investors from firms like DFJ, Kleiner Perkins, Venrock, Garage Technology Ventures, Microsoft Ventures, Intel Capital, Samsung Ventures, IBM, Citrix start-up Accelerator, Blackbox, SAP Startup Focus and many more.
Winners will be determined by a combination of the points given by the judges, online votes and audience votes on launch day. Only one start-up in each group will take home the cup.
Godfrey Marange, CTO at MS Innovations, says the company decided to go into the educational space for various reasons; primarily because education is the most fundamental part of any country's economy and it taps into the human capital.
"The goal is to harness Africa in human capital. There are investments made in education, but they are not enough.
"The system is built to integrate all aspects and stakeholders of the education system. The education department and corporates can also access the system."
Marange explains that corporates can access the system and view top achieving students. This then allows corporates to harness the potential of Grade 8 students and build their skills in areas such as coding and programming rather than wait until they get to Grade 12 or university. The access enables mentoring from various corporates.
The one-day event will take place on at Microsoft's campus in Mountain View, California.
Click here to vote for Mustard Seed in the education category.
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