Run in partnership with Ayoba, the e-Track Programme is a two-phase early-stage venture acceleration and e-Track capacity-building program for high-impact entrepreneurs in South Africa and beyond. Taking a high-touch scale-up approach, the program is designed to support teams build scalable businesses with international potential. Individual participants can either explore their own business idea or join an existing venture. The program also serves as a platform for corporate partners to engage and collaborate on specific research and development agendas.
e-Track is a two-phase venture acceleration program, that tackles the various stages of venture building and development.
Phase one is the 5-week Venture Launch course which focuses on validating the venture concept.
Phase two is the 12-week Venture Scale course which is aimed at accelerating the development of the validated venture.
Eligibility
They are looking for innovation-driven and high-impact scale-ups with solutions that are relevant to the African market and with global potential.
The are looking for both high-impact individuals and teams. Individual participants can either explore their own business idea or join an existing venture.
Most of their scale-ups enter with some sort of business case, early version of a product and a couple of team members. They have a working prototype with a minimum feature set ready to conduct early-market testing to further establish product and market fit.
The initial concept development demonstrates deep and intimate understanding of the problem and market need or opportunity. The idea must have progressed beyond concept and should demonstrate evidence of early market testing, customers, revenues, patents or intellectual property filings.
Benefits
Ayoba Industry Partnership: ayoba is a free messaging app & more, designed by Africans for Africans. Startups selected to move forward to the Venture Exploitation phase will gain access to technical support and mentorship from field experts to get the guidance needed to accelerate their venture.
Capacity Building: They apply a learning-by-doing approach. At workshops and clinics, scale-ups learn founder fundamentals and core skills focused on moving the business forward. Scale-ups apply what they learn through practical outcomes from each session.
Advisory Services: Access to pro-bono partners and a network of consultants to support with specialist expertise e.g. legal, HR, digital user experience, venture capital.
Feedback & Guidance: Scale-ups receive valuable feedback and guidance from our team and a network of experienced mentors and industry partners. Teams also have access to the University of Cape Town (UCT) GSB Solution Space’s network of GSB alumni and corporate partners.
Co-working & Community: They focus on building a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and offer a calendar of regular events designed to increase a team’s knowledge and expand their network. They prioritize peer learning and mentoring through access to their co-working space and regular office-hours.
