UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) Solution Space, in partnership with the MTN Group, invites entrepreneurs to apply for the second cohort of the 2020 E-Track Programme.
The programme is a three-part venture accelerator designed to support individuals or teams in building scalable businesses; individuals can explore their own ideas or join a team to provide expertise. E-track aims to attract high-impact entrepreneurs and to create a platform for them to engage and collaborate with corporate partners in research and development.
The E-Track Programme’s three phases are:
- A five-week pre-selection Venture Launch Programme meant to explore and further ideate the venture;
- Twelve weeks spent on the Venture Exploitation Programme to validate product market-fit through a high-touch scale-up process; and
- A 12-week partner-based Venture Scale Programme, where entrepreneurs meet with partners, market experts and investors to scale start-ups through partner markets.
The programme also gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to learn to build prototypes, to launch and scale a business and to verify a novel product or service that could be developed further into a high-impact firm.
Some of the programme’s other benefits include access to a vibrant ecosystem of entrepreneurs, investors, mentorship and advisory services through expert corporate partners.
Thabang Phoku is the CEO of CiTTA, a data resourcing and networking platform currently on the E-Track Programme. She said: “The programme has helped us gain traction and reach milestones we had for the business much quicker than anticipated. We entered the programme two months ago with just a business idea, but now we have a business model and are starting the process of developing an MVP.”
Andre Strydom, founder and MD of Activity Hub, an online marketplace for tours and outdoor activities, is also part of the programme: “The UCT Graduate School of Business Solution Space has generously provided us with a wealth of experience, insights and resources; this, combined with the in-house team keeping tabs on our progress and just being there, is priceless.”
The MTN Group is a founding partner of the E-Track Programme. Eero Tarjanne is MTN’s ecosystem development GM and one of E-track’s mentors. He explains: “The programme is a key MTN initiative to help scale promising ideas in the digital and mobile financial services space to create and stimulate an ecosystem leveraging various MTN platforms. It also aims to identify and attract top talent.”
Interested individuals can apply here. Applications are open until Friday, 24 July.
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