This weekend, at the first ever Lean Startup Machine Cape Town presented by ROI Media, we saw about 15 teams of young entrepreneurs pitch, plan, pivot, plan and, ultimately pitch their startup ideas again. Though the competition was incredibly impressive and tough, online marketplace for art, The Artery, stepped up as the ultimate winner.
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The winning team consists of Cara Coetzee, Nathan Burstein, Werner van Rooyen and Jason Sive and Nic Robertson. By democratising art, the team hopes that a new generation of art lovers will be created.
The startup eliminates the art gallery middleman. It sells art online, which means that it’s affordable. It offers free shipping on all deliveries and already hosts a wide range of products which are updated weekly.
The fundamental idea of LSM is not to necessarily win, but to learn how to fail fast and success faster. The weekend consisted of workshops, keynote speeches, meals and networking.
To help startups with things like brainstorming to creating a minimal viable product, the teams used the Javlin board — an experimental board that helps simplify the planning process of a business. Trevor Owens, founder of the Javelin board, was one of the surprise keynote speakers and offered inspirational case studies as well his tips and advice to the audience.
Some notable pitches included the self-proclaimed Tinder for entrepreneurs, INTRO, which helps people network based on their location; a coffee startup that enables drivers to collect their beverages on-the-go based on their commute routines; Team Smart Toy Club that sources plastic, disposable toys that can be used to rent out to kids.
MyBest helps South Africans find everything from your suburbs’s best boerie, your town’s most efficient electrician, or even a delicate dentist nearby. Furnishare is an online platform that connects people looking to rent their furniture with people who are looking for furniture. Hood-e wants to help you discover Cape Town, taking you and your friends to multiple mystery experiences with one dedicated driver. Bill Splittr claims to take the pain out of splitting a bill — using the app, take a picture of the bill, tick your items, get your total.
Furthermore, there was a social gifting service, Giftalicious, that helps you find the “perfect” gift for every occasion; CrimeSight is a real-time crime spotting app that lets you (among other things) pin-point suspicious activities in your neighbourhood; sBubble links a small device on your child’s clothes to your smartphone, which then alerts you when they step outside of a secure zone.
