The Innovation Hub– the Innovation Agency of the Gauteng Province calls on entrepreneurs and researchers in the ICT, Green, Biotech and Medical and those driving township economies to enter the annual Gauteng Accelerator Program (GAP) Innovation competitions.
The Innovation Hub plays a fundamental role in fostering innovation and catalysing the development of innovative solutions which are geared towards improving the economic challenges of Gauteng province , whilst also supporting the growth of emerging technology enterprises, as such , the GAP Innovation Competitions targets innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs presently working on novel technologies and services that will accelerate the efficiency of government service delivery, increase the competitiveness of the local economy and enhance the quality of life of ordinary citizens.
For the past six years, the competitions have attracted more than 500 entries and invested over R10 million in seed funding and incubation support to over 55 startups in all sectors. GAP competitions have five categories, each reflective of The Innovation Hub’s priority sectors.
About the Categories:
GAP Green: Run in collaboration with the South African Climate Innovation Centre South Africa. The competition seeks emerging entrepreneurs developing green technology solutions related to energy security, water management, waste and sanitation, sustainable mobility and food security.
GAP Biosciences: Run in partnership with the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and in collaboration with Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia. The programme assists scientists and entrepreneurs to pursue commercially viable opportunities for their cutting-edge bioscience technologies. The focused sectors are Agro-processing and health (pharma and cosmeceuticals).
GAP ICT: Aims to identify researchers and entrepreneurs working on ICT-based solutions to our country’s biggest challenges, from internet of things, artificial intelligence to mobile applications used in education. GAP ICT is a joint project with mLab Southern Africa. This year emphasis will be on technologies and services which reflect The Internet of Things (IoT)
GAP Medical: Run in partnership with Technology Innovation Agency, the competition focuses on identifying and nurturing health innovations that will contribute to the improvement of health service delivery within hospitals, it looks specifically on medical technologies and hospital processes.
Gauteng Accelerator Township Economy (GATE): The competition is aimed at identifying and nurturing township based innovations that can contribute to growth and development in township economy, improvement of service delivery within government, and promote productivity in the overall economy of the province and the country in line with the Township Economy Revitalisation strategy of the Gauteng province. In addition to seed grants, the top five teams are provided with skills transfer and business development support as part of incubation in the different eKasiLabs in the township as well as access to facilities at The Innovation Hub.
Entrepreneurs interested in entering the competitions can download entry forms online via the GAP website.
The closing date for the competition is 15 June 2018. Hereafter, semi-finalists will be invited to attend business training workshops and hackathons relevant to their categories.
The competition will reach finality on 15 November 2018, where winners will be announced at an award ceremony to be held at The Innovation Hub. All winners will receive cash awards and seed funding coupled with incubation at The Innovation Hub Business Incubation programme.