Google has said its incubating South African’s top talents
across all sectors of the economy.
Project Coordinator, Google Umbono, Mr. Justin Beswick, said
that they have some exciting news from the startup community in South Africa,
following on an event which held in Cape Town recently.
He said that Umbono, an incubator that focuses on
high-growth tech startups with global potential, has made public the first four
teams who will begin its six-month programme.
He also said that during these six months period, Umbono
will help the teams develop their ideas and get their products off the ground,
with the intention of seeing some international success stories being made by
the chosen teams.
Beswick noted that the goal of Umbono is to help develop a
vibrant and sustainable internet ecosystem across Africa.
“We hope that Umbono will encourage the growth of the
developer community and support the South Africa’s already flourishing tech
sector,” he said, stressing that there is a vibrant tech startup movement
happening in South Africa, and Google Umbono has received hundreds of
applications.
Presently, he said, they have four ambitious startups in the
programme, namely LocalSort, TaxTim, Sampleboard and Starburst Games.
He explained that LocalSort is a service that helps hotels
and hospitality businesses provide local information and recommendations to
their guests. While TaxTim is a digital tax assistant to help South Africans
make tax filing season simple.
In addition, Sampleboard, he said, is an online editing
programme which helps designers create digital mood boards in minutes and thus
share conceptual, visual ideas with colleagues and clients in the early stages
of a creative project.
For Starburst Games, he said, it is a mobile game company
which will be developing collaborative, multi-player games on a unique mobile
handset delivery platform.
These teams, he pointed out, will each receive seed capital
of up to $50,000, and mentorship from thought leaders and businesses in South
Africa and around the world.
“This valuable mentorship will help them develop a solid
business plan, transform their ideas into companies, and prepare them to get
their products into the marketplace,” he said.
Even as at the end of the six months, he said, successful
teams will receive follow-on funding from the local venture capital community
or from investors overseas.
Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
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