VeloCITi Y, a training programme run by the leading Cape Town-based incubator, the Telkom Bandwidth Barn (The Barn) and sponsored by the Western Cape provincial government has nominated its top three tech businesses to watch, following its latest round of training.
"The programme focuses on supporting viable technology and design projects," says Ansi Gillfillan, the programme's manager. "We take on any entrepreneur who is passionate, has a good, clear idea, and who is committed to making this succeed."
- Perk, by Jess Green - Green shot to fame when his company, UbuntuDeal was sold to Bidorbuy recently for an undisclosed amount. His next venture is Perk, a mobile loyalty programme that picks up when a client enters a store.
- Saving Xena, by Marco-Hans van der Willik - He has over nine years' experience as a software engineer and has worked with several blue-chip South African companies. Saving Xena is an entertaining and addictive game that promises to keep people playing as they move up the levels. It will be accessible after launch in October 2012 via popular content portal sites and Facebook and eventually on iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android App Stores.
- PhraZApp, by Glenn Stein - Stein recently won top awards for his mobile phone application PhraZApp. The app provides translations for popular phrases in English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa and Tswana and is available from the BlackBerry App World and Vodacom App Store. The also app took third place at the Vodacom competition, won the BlackBerry 10JAM Lightening Pitches competition on 31 July and went on to win the MTN App of the Year 'Best Garage Developer' award on 1 August.
VeloCITi Y focuses primarily on giving entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, training, mentoring and insight that it takes to be a successful business owner.
"Cape Town is proud to be the hub of entrepreneurial development in South Africa," says Chris Vermeulen, GM at The Barn. "Many people have ideas but very few of them put them into action. The Barn helps new start-ups, who have been operating for more than six months, through the VeloCITi programme, plus we have a host of events and initiatives all of which support sustainable entrepreneur development."
Connect with the Bandwidth Barn on www.bandwidthbarn.org or Twitter: @BandwidthBarn
