top of page
This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.Start Now

R1-million for grabs in Hack.Jozi Challenge

04 May 2016

 

The top 10 finalists in the 2016 #Hack.Jozi Challenge, an initiative aimed at finding Johannesburg’s own Mark Zuckerbergs – technology boffins with great digital solutions to some of the city’s everyday challenges – have been announced.

 

The competition, which is in its second year, is the result of a partnership between the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at the University of the Witwatersrand.

These tech-preneurs will have the opportunity to present their ideas at an open Demo Day on Friday May13.

The overall winner, to be announced on Thursday May 19, will walk away with a R1-million prize, while the other two finalists in the top three will each pocket R350 000 for their innovations. All top three winners will be supported by a business mentor who will guide them as to how best to use their prize money to further develop their ideas into successful and profitable enterprises.

All top 10 finalists will receive a free one-year membership to the ICT-Hub in Braamfontein, a Wits University initiative led by Prof Barry Dwolatzky.

Ravi Nair, Executive Director of the City’s Economic Development Department, says the top 10 finalists are young people with impressive and innovative ideas to change the way the world works.

“This competition is designed to accelerate early-stage ICT start-ups and supports capacity development, job creation and enterprise development. After a rigorous process that has been playing out over the past six weeks, we now have 10 superb businesses which have fought through three rounds of the competition and have been judged on the technical feasibility of their venture, scalability and the wow-factor,” he says.

Naidoo says this year’s competition attracted 400 high quality entries.

“We are also pleased to see that others, such as the City of Cape Town and the Department of Water and Sanitation, have taken a cue from us to embrace the digital era in their environments and encourage technology innovation as a way to address relevant problems and promote entrepreneurship,” said Naidoo.

This year’s top 10 finalists are:

  • Tuta-Me – A mobile tutoring service application linking tutors to students;

  • TimeWize Parental Control – A tool to address screen-time issues with children and their Android devices;

  • Mensch – An online business matchmaking and advice marketplace;

  • Low-Cost Educational Robotics Toy (LCERT) – a kit including hardware, software and activities;

  • Spotless – A mobile drop-off and pickup laundry service;

  • Advicement – An online platform that aims to automate the functions of a traditional financial adviser;

  • DUEPROP – An integrated online portal for all property sector stakeholders;

  • eSubmit – An online accelerator platform for faster building plans approval from local authorities;

  • Gradrr – An automatic preparation and marking multiple choice question tool; and

  • TechnoVera – Smartlockers aimed at reducing waiting periods for chronic medications at primary healthcare collection facilities.



 

bottom of page