South African law firm Webber Wentzel has announced the selection of 10 startups and scale-ups to join its Ignite legal incubation programme.
In a statement yesterday, Aalia Manie, project lead and partner at the firm, commented that the legal firm is thrilled at the “exceptional quality” of the applications received and the level of interest shown in the programme.
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In a subsequent email today, Manie said she could not immediately disclose the number of applications without the permission of her team members.
The 10 companies are:
The 10 will receive support that includes legal services valued at up to R100 000, focused mentoring and support which will aim to arm startups and scale-ups with legal knowledge. In December Manie told Ventureburn that the programme has no fixed period or end date it.
Manie told Ventureburn today that as the offering is tailored to each startup, the first “kick-off” of the programme will be to get to know each company “really well, dedicate a group of specialists to them, identify their legal needs and craft the preferred value-adds according to their communicated requirements”.
“We certainly intend to have events, showcases and workshops, but will only do so once we have had feedback from the companies regarding their availability, preferences and ‘wishlists’,” she said.
Read more: Webber Wentzel launches incubation initiative, Webber Wentzel Ignite
Knife Capital partner Andrea Böhmert, who is an Ignite expert panellist, believes that the programme will fill an important gap in Cape Town’s tech ecosystem.
The 10 firms chosen by Webbel Wentzel for its Ignite programme are all highly innovative businesses which are disrupting their respective industries
“I believe that the access to subject matter experts from a firm with the size and experience of Webber Wentzel will help drive the success of the selected start-ups and scale-ups.”
The other panellists are: Webber Wentzel head of technology, media and telecommunications Peter Grealy; 88 Business Collective founder Antoinette Prophy; Seed Academy co-founder Lara Rosmarin; Startupbootcamp Cape Town co-managing director Zachariah George, and Webber Wentzel partner Leanne Mostert.
