The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) and the Innovator Trust have partnered to launch a new ICT entrepreneur development programme, aimed at supporting black-owned SMMEs in the ICT sector.
The multi-year support programme looks to enable the growth of early stage businesses and improve the survival rate of BBBEE SMME companies by helping them become structurally viable.
CiTi and the Innovator Trust are targeting entrepreneurs with small, micro or medium sized businesses within the tech and ICT space that have been in operation for more than two years.
They must be more than 51 per cent black-owned and have a B-BBEE status of Level 4 or better to enter the programme, which will be held at the Bandwidth Barn locations in Woodstock and Khayelitsha.
The programme is the first year of a three-year programme, which requires a commitment of up to 10 five-hour, face-to-face sessions over the course of a year. These sessions are facilitated by an experienced moderator with an emphasis on networking and peer support.
Interested parties are invited to submit an online application, after which potential candidates will be shortlisted and interviewed. Final selection will be made by a panel.
The ICT entrepreneur development programme is one of a number of new support schemes rolled out by CiTi in recent months, with others including the InnoTech acceleration programme, digital currency incubator BitHub, and a virtual reality (VR) community.
