Five Alex entrepreneurs get a chance to fly

30 September 2016

 

Five Alexandra entrepreneurs have been given the chance of a lifetime to take their ideas to the next level after attending a boot camp at the weekend.

 

The Start-Up Weekend was initiated by the City of Johannesburg’s Innovation Hub in partnership with the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The five budding businesspeople are Gcobisa Mahlulo, Jonathan Shai, Hercules Ndlovu, Thabiso Matsaung and Dineo Ndlovu. The five – who are involved in food delivery, and tyre recycling, furniture and jewellery manufacturing – will be nurtured during a nine-month entrepreneurship development programme at the Kasie Lab in Marlboro in Region E.

They were part a group of young entrepreneurs who gathered at the 3 Square Multipurpose Centre in Alexandra to learn the basics of building a start-up and running a business.

The interactive session allowed participants to immerse themselves in an ideal environment for start-ups. The workshop involved pitching ideas and forming teams that then had to work together on a business model. The ideas were pitched to a panel of judges, who evaluated and scored them.

Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Nomakhaya Mahlaule welcomed the workshop.

“This boot camp actually speaks to our mandate, which is to promote businesses within Alexandra. We believe the youth are contributing positively to the country. What is also important to note is that there are tangibles from this workshop as last year’s one has already demonstrated,” said Mahlaule.

More than R300 000 worth of business support was given to the top three winners. A media and marketing start-up business was afforded the opportunity to become an Adreach outdoor media partner, receiving full support to develop a marketing and media company.

The annual workshop debuted at the Industrial Development Corporation in Sandton in March 2015.