Methys Labs offering R50k to Silicon Cape’s most innovative startups

As part of an initiative to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in South Africa, international technology group Methys is offering Western Cape entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch an innovative project and receive a R50 000 subsidy in development value for either a website or mobile application.

Dubbed The Methys Labs Innovation Challenge, this initiative is about providing entrepreneurs based within Silicon Cape the possibility to deliver a digital innovation for their startup or existing business that could then possibly disrupt and develop internationally.

The Methys Labs is responsible for having successfully incubated or provided seed capital and technology to startups operating in Silicon Valley such as Powertime, Energy intelligence, PayGenius, Top12Wines and Kwami — all of which have developed beyond South Africa’s borders.

Headquartered in Paris, Methys recently promoted its South African office as an innovation hub for the group. Its main approach is to provide entrepreneurial support by blending both technology and business modelling capabilities. Co-Founder and Chairman of Methys, Christophe Viarnaud, elaborates:

“Delivering innovation and disruption is core to our company DNA, as our strong track record of incubation demonstrates. This first Methys Labs award aims at identifying entrepreneurs with potential to succeed in the digital space; coming from either an ecommerce space or transitioning from a brick and mortar environment.”

Criteria such as business idea viability, disruption potential, customer adoption potential, and design will be used for determining the winner.

Deadline for the submission closes on 8 December. Here is some more information about how to enter the challenge.