The Solution Space at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, held its first virtual Demo Day to celebrate the first cohort of the E-Track Programme in partnership with the MTN Group.

Demo Day is an opportunity to celebrate progress made by ventures and to hear more about their next level plans. The virtual event was attended by over 80 guests, including the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng.

These nine startups working on a range of high-impact solutions pitched.

* Discreet security-enabled panic button card, CONTEGO PROTEGO [1]
* ZARGA [2], a mobile remittance payment platform
* Online beauty and wellness service platform PRIM-U [3]
* LALELA, a mobile device audiometer
* ASKCICERO, an automated legal consultancy
* A visual interactive learning kit called VISAR [4]
* GREENED [5], an online education platform for sustainable built environment
    * An online conceptual learning platform for high school pupils called SAMESTART [6]
    * DREAM FACTORY FOUNDATION [7] which provides an educational programme for youth to drive entrepreneurial development and employment
opportunities.

The following cohort awards were also announced:

MOST PROGRESS AWARD: LALELA

Jay Chouhan and Jean Pierre Le Roux, who co-founded Lalela in 2019, developed a cost-effective mobile device audiometer. The innovative application allows users to test hearing easily and quickly, review results and create reports and refer patients to the nearest audiology service provider when hearing loss is detected.

Lalela received cash prize of R50k, mentorship and a co-working space. Their next step for the business is to gain market acceptance through clinicians and OHS.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE & MENTORSHIP BY AYOBA: SAMESTART & PRIM-U

Charl van der Horst and Farrel Strul, who co-founded Same Start in 2018, developed an online conceptual learning platform for high school pupils.
The app provides interactive content, which, with just a tap, can be translated into a student's native language. This is paired with interactive quizzes and advanced analytics to provide students with a comprehensive, easy to use education platform. Their next step is a plan on raising funding to accelerate, digitise and translate additional content, build out a team as well as their partner base, run a large-scale pilot and then go to market.

Thuli Hlongwane founded Prim-U in 2017. Prim-U is an online beauty and wellness service platform. The easy-to-use app platform makes the appointment process effortless & transparent for both customers and service providers. Their next step is to launch their full service by the end of 2020.

Prim-U and SameStart will both receive technical expertise, mentorship & co-working space at the Ayoba Offices in Cape Town.

HIGH-IMPACT INDIVIDUAL: CLEMENT MAKHOLWA (ZARGA)

Clement Makholwa founded Zarga in 2017. Zarga is a mobile remittance payment platform that is safe, affordable and convenient to use. The platform is for retailers, SMMEs and government services who are looking for payment platforms-as-a- service. The APP allows users to send money over a long distance, request money, peer-to-peer payments, b-2-b transactions, c-2-b transactions and on contact payments with a unique QR code. This award celebrates Clement's resourcefulness, big picture thinking and his valuable contribution to the cohort.

 “WE RECOGNISE THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE BY THE VENTURES IN THE PAST MONTHS, AND WE’D LIKE TO CONGRATULATE THEM FOR THEIR EFFORTS AND HARD WORK. WHILE A FEW STARTUPS RECEIVED AWARDS, WE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT ALL VENTURES TO LAUNCH AND SCALE THEIR SOLUTIONS”, SAID SHIELA YABO, UCT GSB SOLUTION SPACE PROGRAMME MANAGER.

The virtual event recording can be accessed HERE [8].