Since we last checked in on Seed Engine, the accelerator has begun its first 13 week accelerator boot camp. Six teams of entrepreneurs have been selected from more than 300 applications. Each venture has been given R100 000 startup capital to convert their ideas into practical business plans ready to attract further investment at a demo day in May. Entrepreneurs hope to raise between R200 000 and R2-million. Marc Elias, CEO of Seed Engine says that the ventures selected are all ...

There is simply no denying that tech entrepreneurship in Africa is on the rise, and the dedication and passion of community leaders across the continent has resulted in a strong pool of technology-driven investment opportunities. From our vantage point high in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, we’ve been watching three trends that seem to be bridging the ocean between Silicon Valley and the so-called Silicon Savannah. Below are three trends that demonstrate these connections. The rapid growth of accelerator programs Going through an accelerator ...

You have a startup. Chances are you will raise some decent cash because your idea is that good. You know it's only a matter of time before you're ready to sell it off to the highest bidder. That's great. We are here to prepare you for that moment. Just because your company is great and the technology is amazing doesn't mean the big guns will come calling. Sometimes no matter how great the startup, it escapes the notice of the ...

How did you find your startup idea? For those of us evolving in the start-up ecosystem, it is not uncommon to spend sleepless nights trying to find the right product idea that will find or create it’s own market in the so-called product-market fit. There are tons of literature and excellent books on that topic, such as Eric Ries’ Lean Startup or The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. All offers valuable advices on starting and managing a startup from idea ...

At first glance you probably wouldn't think that there is money to be made off the unemployed. After all, no jobs means no money, right? For the most part perhaps, but the US$400 billion recruitment industry might beg to differ. Technology has the ability to eat into industry revenues and professional social network LinkedIn stands the best chance to take a bite out of the recruitment market. But for the most part, the industry is alive and well. With that ...

Mobile comparison shopping App PriceCheck has been nominated as one of three finalists for the app of the year category in this year's BlackBerry Achievement Awards. The South African-based offers shoppers access to different price options as well as reviews for various products with access to both online and offline stores. According to BlackBerry, the awards aim to recognise "cutting-edge contributions of creative thinkers, from all corners of the globe" by bringing together a community of exceptional businesses, entrepreneurs and developers. ...

South Africa's funding scene is cagey. It's really hard to find concrete information, but it's no surprise really, considering all the non-disclosure agreements. Silicon Cape has been running a survey in an effort to unlock some funding information which it hopes will enlighten the country's tech startup community. The survey results were compiled into this infographic. While 60% of startups are self-funded, 41% are in search of funding. Funding is still a luxury available to a select few -- about a ...

South African ecommerce player Wantitall has just closed a deal which will see it invest an undisclosed sum of money in flash sales specialist CityMob. According to Business Tech, the investment is designed to help CityMob improve its logistics, warehousing and systems as well as giving it access to more potential customers. Wanitall has steadily climbed the South African ecommerce ranks over the past few years, stocking electronics, toys, jewellery and books, meaning that it competes with heavy hitters in the ...

During the heyday of the domain name business in the late 90s, entrepreneurs snapped up attractive .com domains for cheap. Like real estate, the value of these domain names would balloon over the years as businesses rose to claim not only the smartest word combinations, but also their online identities. Buying and selling domain names turned out to be a very lucrative business for some. Domains like sex.com and insure.com would go on to hold jaw-dropping price tags of US$14-million ...

When we spoke to IBM last year, the world's largest IT company predicted a decrease in consumer-facing startups. New ventures, it said, will be increasingly targeting enterprise environments. It's no longer just enterprise heavy-weights such as Oracle, IBM, Accenture and SAP that can compete in corporate environments. Powerful, cost-effective cloud services and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies have opened up an industry ready for disruption -- slow-moving corporate environments offer opportunities for nimble startups, that can often tailor make solutions. Still, it remains harder ...