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17 March 2016

Tech Start-Ups Get a Helping Hand From Telkom and the Bandwidth Barn

Five new Western Cape businesses have been created that less than six months ago were little more than great ideas, thanks to support from Telkom FutureMakers and Cape Town’s Bandwidth Barn.

The businesses have been developed by InnoTech, a Telkom-funded 20-week programme focusing on web and mobile applications development, software development and design, and gaming. The initiative, facilitated by the Bandwidth Barn, aims to stimulate new business creation and support the expansion and growth of existing companies through the uptake of technology and innovation capability. FutureMakers is Telkom’s enterprise and supplier development programme.

Fifteen entrepreneurs with concepts or early stage prototypes were included in InnoTech’s initial eight-week phase. The initial intake were progressively whittled down to the final five.

Fellows were able to test assumptions, refine models, and receive feedback on their pitches through the programme. They received weekly seminars on business fundamentals, and were able to access mentorship and a business development grant.

“Through the FutureMakers programme, Telkom is making a significant long-term investment in the future of our nation. By encouraging the uptake of technology within small businesses, with initiatives such as InnoTech, we can build a more innovative economy that drives job creation and sustainable growth,” said Ian Russell, Chief Administration Officer at Telkom.

“We are proud of the InnoTech Fellows and the huge distance they’ve covered from concept to market in this programme,” said the Bandwidth Barn’s Innovation Programme Manager, Michelle Matthews. “We have provided the business owners with the right foundation upon which to grow their businesses and we look forward to watching their successes, in years to come.”

Entries for the next 20-week programme will open on 5 April Information is available on the Bandwidth Barn Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BandwidthBarn) and on the website (www.citi.org.za). The Bandwidth Barn is a business incubation space, or FutureHub, under the FutureMakers programme.

The Fellows and their businesses are:

  • CareRott: A mentorship app to connect university mentors with students making tertiary study decisions, developed by Makabongwe Mpambani and Lusindiso Qhusheka. www.carerott.com
  • Educade: A start-up that re-programs arcade game consuls with educational content, rewarding junior school children for learning through play, headed by Regina Kgatle. www.educade.co.za
  • Facility Rep: An app and online tool that enables facilities management businesses and their tenants to efficiently log issues and effectively resolve them, developed by Siyabonga Tiwana. www.skywalkinnovations.co.za/
  • Tutorfy: A virtual marketplace enabling on-demand matching of tutors and learners, by Nathier Abrahams. www.tutorfy.co.za
  • MuniServe: An application that connects ward councilors and home-owners, ensuring transparency in fault logging and status tracking, by Sinethemba Dlova and Siyasanga Mtshokotsha.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Pynee Chetty

Senior Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel:+27 12 642 1716

Mobile: +27 81 389 7874

Email: chettpr2@telkom.co.za

 OR

Leigh-Ann Francis

Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel: +27 12 642 1728

Mobile: +27 81 391 4780

Email: francilm@telkom.co.za

Telkom Park, The Apex

92 Oak Avenue

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ABOUT TELKOM:

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa. We had consolidated operating revenue of R16.8 billion and normalised profit after tax of R1, 683 million for the period ended 30 September 2015. Total assets amounted to R41.9 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R23.5 billion as of 30 September 2015. The group generated normalised free cash flow of R1.4 billion for the period ended 30 September 2015.

As of 30 September 2015, we had approximately 3.3 million telephone access lines in service and 1,030,441 ports connected via MSAN access. We offer business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

  • fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines, including ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, and the sale of subscription based value-added voice services and calling plans;
  • fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs and these include PABX, Computers, Routers, Modems, Telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;
  • interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;
  • fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and internet access and related information technology services;
  • Data Centre Operations includes e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;
  • W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G next generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;
  • mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through our mobile navbar-brand called Telkom Mobile;
  • information and communication services including cloud services, infrastructure services, workspace services, global service integration management and hardware and network equipment sales locally, in seven African countries, the UK and Dubai through Business Connexion Group; and
  • other services including directory services, through Trudon (Pty) Ltd, wireless data services, through Swiftnet (Pty) Ltd.
  • Convergence is one of our key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom. We will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of our mission statement: Seamlessly connecting people to a better life.

ABOUT BANDWIDTH BARN:

CiTi (the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative) has been in operation for nearly 20 years. Best-known for managing the Bandwidth Barn, a space for start-ups to grow and connect in Cape Town, CiTi also successfully runs several programmes in the skills and enterprise development space.

Research done on our ten-year anniversary with companies that had been through our programmes showed that more than 2800 jobs and over R800 million in combined revenue had been created.

Information technology has become more pervasive over the past 15 years, to the point where it is integral across the innovation spectrum, from product and services innovation (such as the internet of things) to business model innovation (such as mobile money for the unbanked) to social innovation. CiTi and the Bandwidth Barn support IT-enabled innovation across sectors, including finTech (and blockchain), healthTech, edTech and openGov.

CiTi’s Bandwidth Barn receives support from Telkom FutureMakers as one of its FutureHubs.