Praekelt Foundation in partnership with Omidyar Network, Google and ISlabs has created Johannesburg’s first tech incubator, JoziHub, which will foster entrepreneurship and innovation.
Jozihub aim to transform the technology industry by connecting potential entrepreneurs and developers with the critical resources they need. It intends to be the facilitator for interactions and collaborations among various stakeholders such as research, private sector and public institutions, providing a dynamic and far-reaching eco-system for entrepreneurs to drive their initiatives.
Emphasis is placed on the development of Internet, social media and mobile technologies that address the country’s most pressing social challenges.
There will be various content streams that will focus on particular market segments; Entrepreneurship; Developers; Health; Arts; Education; Environment & Sustainability; Women in Tech; and Government and Transparency.
“Technology hubs can play a pivotal role in fostering the emergence of a new generation of African tech entrepreneurs,” says Gustav Praekelt, founder of the Praekelt Foundation.
“By providing the training, support, facilities and networks required to enable entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into sustainable businesses, incubators such as JoziHub can make an immediate and lasting impact on local innovation and development.”
Praekelt says Johannesburg has a vibrant community of innovators and world class thinkers whose ideas can transform the country, and indeed the African continent.
“At JoziHub, we are seeking to harness this energy and allow its vast potential to be realised,” he said.
Jozihub has joined the clique of those rocking African innovation space such as Kenya’s iHub, Nigeria’s ccHub and Uganda’s Hive Colab. The hub plans to apply to join AfriLabs, a networking organisation that supports the growth of communities around African technology hubs.
Omidyar Network Partner Stephen King posits that the hub will give the city’s entrepreneurs a quicker path to innovation.
“For Johannesburg tech entrepreneurs, today the world just became smaller and the path to innovation shorter,” he said.
King added that Omidyar’s experience in Silicon Valley, as well as its support of technology hubs in Nairobi and Lagos, demonstrates the vital role JoziHub will play as an open, living lab where collaboration among social entrepreneurs and technologists will spark new ideas, nurture innovation and create socially minded ventures.
Google, one of JoziHub’s core funding partners, is committed to helping the tech start-up ecosystem grow across Africa, as part of their efforts to create an accessible, relevant and sustainable internet ecosystem across the continent.
Google's goal is to enable tech hubs like JoziHub by providing them with funding, technical content, business tools, and infrastructure upgrades so that the hubs can support developers and start-ups.
During JoziHub’s 3 month launch period, it will be free for entrepreneurs to join and utilise the JoziHub. As demand grows, certain services such as the shared space, hotdesks, access to mentors and events will be charged for accordingly,Gadget reported.
Meanwhile, JoziHub will regularly host events that bring together the continent’s leading thinkers and agents of change within each of these sectors.
The first event will be the TED2013 Live Stream on February 27th, 2012.
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