Fifteen startups from across the continent have been selected for the next phase of the e-Track Programme, a three-phase venture acceleration programme run by the UCT GSB Solution Space in partnership with ayoba.
Run by UCT GSB Solution Space – a specialised centre of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business focused on high-impact early startups, corporate innovation, and entrepreneurship development – and funded by ayoba, the latest e-Track Programme began five weeks ago with the initial phase, Venture Launch.
That culminated in two days of competitive pitching to a panel of industry experts, after which the cohort of over 40 ventures was cut down to 15 for the next phase – Venture Exploitation. This stage welcomes startups from across the continent, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Namibia and South Africa, operating in industries such as education, agriculture, wellness, marketing, climate and AI.
The selected startups range from sleep consultancy Sleep Science, to prescription management service Prescribe, to peer-to-peer teaching and learning platform Sgela Saam. All are high-impact ventures, with other members of the cohort including sanitation company Flushh, safe transportation platform Kids Transportation Service, and bank transfer validation service Biz 301.
“This year saw a record number of participants in Venture Launch and consequently a record number of startups pitching for Venture Exploitation, which shows that innovation is alive and well on the continent,” said Vanessa Ramanjan, programme manager at the UCT GSB Solution Space. “While we would love to have accepted all of them into the second phase, we had to make some tough calls and only select 15.”
The programme has commenced and will conclude in November.
