Meet Jozi’s top eight green entrepreneurs
16-03-2015

 

The City of Johannesburg and its partners edged closer to naming the green economy champion when eight young and ambitious entrepreneurs were announced as first round winners of the City’s R5 million Green Challenge.

In August, one or two of the entrepreneurs will walk away with the R1 million top price, the culmination of an initiative launched in December last year.
 

About 86 entries were received at the time. These were whittled down to 20 last month.

Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development Councillor Ruby Mathang congratulated the first round winners, who will each receive R250 000 to improve their projects in preparation for the top prize. 

The projects are mainly on water, energy, waste and transport management.
 

“The first-round winners were selected through an innovative and exciting process.  We drew on all the strengths of Joburg: our world-class existing entrepreneurs, our researchers at both Wits University and University of Johannesburg, our incubation specialists at our hubs and our venture capitalists and financers.
 

“I have said before that we must walk the talk in supporting entrepreneurs. The importance of the green economy is reflected in the National Development Plan, and the provincial strategy and Joburg 2040. By seeding the Green Challenge Fund, we are pursuing both goals at once.”

The eight winning projects are:

• Baoberry, a potentially revolutionary process to treat waste water;

• Energidrop, a business model using flexible solar panels to improve fuel efficiency in trucks and buses;

• FNS, a simple, low-cost switch that will help people time their electricity usage;

• GezaJozi, an electric tricycle that improves the working conditions and income of waste pickers;

• MellowCabs, electric minicabs that will provide simple, convenient transport around transport nodes;

• PowerOptimal, an automated load-shifting system to simply and significantly cut peak electricity use;

• PublicAccess, a smart bench that will improve public space and collect data on the environment, which can be used to revitalise downtown areas such as Park Station, Braamfontein and Maboneng; and

• WHC, a newly designed valve to stop water leaks in the home.

“This is just the beginning. Not only will these first-round winners be judged again in six months, to select the final one or two winners, but we will be running the whole Green Challenge – only larger, with private sector players, and with a longer lead-time. 
 

In fact, we hope that in many years to come people will look back on this as the beginning of an enduring, continual source of game-changers and a central feature of Joburg’s green economy,” MMC Mathang said.

“The City, University of Johannesburg, Resolution Circle, the judges and participants extend their congratulations to the winners. One of the most positive aspects of the list is that none of them depend on the City to be viable, but all will have strong synergies with us,” MMC Mathang said.
 

“The development of a green economy is one of the City’s core strategic objectives. This is aligned to the National Development Plan, which calls for mutual benefits between sustainable development and low carbon, increasing employment, reducing inequality.”