University of Johannesburg to debut its own business incubator

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has announced a new incubator which will aim to empower its students and create thousands of youth-driven businesses within the tech sector.

The programme was established in partnership with the Finnish University of Applied Science, Laurea. The university based in the Uusimaa region of Finland is known for boosting entrepreneurship among the youth through their EER entrepreneurial ecosystem programme.

“We want to see our students and other young people start businesses valuable to the economy. We want them to create jobs and grow local economies rather than to be looking for employment,” said UJ’s VC, Ihron Rensburg.

“Obviously we train them to be ready for the workplace. However, we want far more young people to plan and start businesses, understanding what it takes, how it needs to be done, and what support is available to make it a success.”

UJ in partnership with Laurea University will hope to create thousands of tech jobs in SA

Rensburg also noted that the university wants to “encourage far more UJ students setting up small enterprises of their own, especially tech startups”.

“In Helsinki, about ten thousand young entrepreneurs attend the SLUSH conference every year, which is an extraordinary event. They present their startups to venture capitalists for funding and further development. Many of the startups are founded by Laurea students,” Rensburg added.

The programme hopes to equip young entrepreneurs with the necessary knowledge and support they need. This will prepare the young entrepreneurs to be able to present their businesses in front of VCs as well as angel investors and other viable sources of capital to get their business moving.

Featured image: Univerity of Johannesburg