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Empire onboards 20th firm in incubation hub

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 06 Jun 2022
Jasmine Mokwena, EPF head of marketing and hackathon coordinator.
Jasmine Mokwena, EPF head of marketing and hackathon coordinator.

Sandton-based tech non-profit organisation Empire Partner Foundation (EPF) has onboarded its 20th team of young software developers in its incubation hub in Illovo.

On Saturday, the EPF announced the addition of the Monarchy team, which is developing an e-commerce platform for township-based small and medium enterprises.

The start-up will now benefit from EPF support in scaling, including platform development and introductions to customers.

EPF hosts monthly hackathons to identify new talent, where developers are guided through a process of creating solutions to self-defined problems “in an agile method, where testing the problems and validating solutions is crucial”, says Jasmine Mokwena, EPF head of marketing and hackathon coordinator.

The foundation’s model is based on focusing and selecting developers with the most promising tech business ideas that are scalable. Participants will then be enrolled into the EPF business incubator, before being placed in a business accelerator programme.

“Our EPF hackathons provide South African youth the platform to apply the knowledge they learn in university in solving real-world problems, whilst creating an atmosphere of collaborating in teams with strangers, and building confidence in pitching their ideas," says Mokwena.

“Unemployment is one of the 10 public sector issues that we at EPF have mandated ourselves in solving through tech. Through our hackathons, we encourage self-employment, and as a result, mitigate unemployment rates that adversely affect the economy.”

The EPF also recently launched the multimillion-rand Empire Partner Foundation Tech Fund 2. The fund identifies and rewards young, high-potential, innovative entrepreneurs to spur economic development in the country using technology.

Sibusiso Magwaxaza (23), who leads Monarchy, says: “We are extremely gratified about this win. I want to appreciate my group members for all their hard work, dedication and being able to work together as a team. It inspires others to participate in such competitions in order for them to showcase their skill and develop tech ideas that will have a positive impact in society.”

Magwaxaza says his team is seeking to assist township-based enterprises with digital solutions as a way of embracing the digital economy.

The Monarchy team is developing an e-commerce platform, which Magwaxaza says will assist small businesses in townships to improve efficiencies.

“SmartTrade is a web-based platform that uses an API [application programming interface] system to assist SMMEs to access new markets, reduce business costs and increase efficiency and productivity. In addition, we provide an app that will be integrated with the websites which focuses more on the daily business operations.

“We want to help all SMMEs to actually participate effectively in the economy, build a legacy platform and create employment opportunities. We also aim at empowering the youth to access new markets through business development.”

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