Seven South African startups have been named in the first cohort of the IBM Techscale programme, which will provide them with incubation, mentoring and possibly access to funding.
The first Techscale programme will be delivered the Youth, Innovation Entrepreneurship Design Institute (YIEDI) over the next five months from the Workshop17 space in Sandton.
It will offer participants access to incubation, mentoring, development and possible funding, with selected startups benefitting from the access to markets that comes from working with a tech giant such as IBM.
The seven selected companies are P2P blockchain remittance platform GeoPay, business financial management solution KryszanTec, big data company Zyelabs, AI startup BotsZA, wireless network provider Konecta, and software development companies Qualip Solutions and Smartech Holdings.
“I am extremely proud of how the IBM Techscale candidates have embraced this opportunity to learn and grow with us. Over the past few weeks we have already seen them grow and learn from some of the mentors we identified,” said Jayshree Naidoo, chief executive officer (CEO) of YIEDI.
Naidoo also said she was impressed with the commitment demonstrated by the IBM leadership team.
“They made the launch event extremely beneficial for all the candidates selected by preparing a personal message for them and giving them insights into the opportunities available and more on IBM’s strategy,” she said.
