TractionBus, a mobile start-up pitching competition, has kicked off in Gauteng.
The organiser of the competition, StartUpEdge, is a pre-incubation project aimed at providing solutions for start-up founders in ideation phase, and assist them with growing their business ideas into globally competitive start-ups that can be scalable into multinational companies.
The TractionBus will visit five hubs in Gauteng to expose entrepreneurs to the start-up ecosystem and the various offerings from the different hubs. Five entrepreneurs are allocated to each hub and only one entrepreneur from each hub gets a seat on the TractionBus.
The five winners from the five hubs will then participate in the finale for potential investment at #THUDfest2015 on 18 November in front of investors and mentors.
The purpose of the TractionBus is to connect, expose and celebrate the start-up ecosystem participants, as well as expose entrepreneurs to the different offerings by each ecosystem participant.
StartUp Edge has partnered with five hubs to ensure entrepreneurs from different industries have access to the resources, incubation and mentorship provided by these hubs.
The five hubs are The Innovation Hub in Pretoria, Riversands Incubation Hub in Midrand, BizFarm also in Midrand, Alphacode in Sandton, and Sophiatown Green Incubator. JoziHub is on board as a sponsor, and will provide technical assistance and coaching to the tech start-ups beyond the competition.
The winning entrepreneurs will get prizes in excess of R200 000 in terms of access to office space, mentorship and support to access markets and funding.
Participants can enter online by filling out the entry form on the StartUpEdge Web site, and the main requirement is that the start-up must be less than two years old. Entries will close on 31 October.
According to Sibusiso Sagoda, founder and programmes manager of StartUpEdge, TractionBus is the first event of its kind and will launch in the Western Cape in the first quarter of 2016.
He points out there are low levels of entrepreneurial activities in Gauteng compared to the Western Cape but with Gauteng being the hub of the African economy, opportunities exist.
"The ecosystem in Gauteng is still very young and if we can unite the participants, we can create our very own Silicon Valley in Gauteng."
Sagoda says inadequate information as well as lack of funding are some of the biggest challenges facing local start-up companies. A recent survey by Sage discovered 96% of the small businesses in SA have had no assistance - financial or otherwise - from national government as they strived to build their companies.
He believes incubation hubs are a great way to deal with information-sharing. "Hubs are better at it compared to the government agencies - they are run by entrepreneurs and the 'competition' between hubs ensures the 'clients', being entrepreneurs, get assisted. It is also a great way for the private sector to get involved in entrepreneurship in this country."
Segoda adds that with technology, entrepreneurs can have international perspective solutions for local problems.
"They can have international collaborations, and access to information/resources that are not available in South Africa."
However, he points out there are some negative connotations of using technology among start-ups.
"With technology, global companies with bigger marketing budgets are able to access the South African markets faster than the local start-ups. The competition from global start-ups mean African start-ups need to operate at the level of Silicon Valley; this is almost impossible with limited resources."
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