SA university partners with Canadian, Indian institutes to boost startup growth

South Africa’s Wits University has just announced a partnership with Canada’s Ryerson University and the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute in India, in a mission to boost growth opportunities for entrepreneurs and accelerate startup incubation in the three partner countries.

Ryerson has a strong track record in creating ecosystems for entrepreneurs and last year invited South African students as part of its fellowship and entrepreneurial incubation initiative.

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“This trilateral partnership is exactly the kind of boost that South Africa requires to foster development, innovation and entrepreneurship. The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering at Wits will serve as the catalyst for this initiative through its tech hub in Braamfontein,” said Professor Adam Habib who’s the Vice Chancellar at Wits.

In 2013, Ryerson Futures teamed up with the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute to bring Ryerson’s incubator concept to India, to catalyse the same entrepreneurial opportunities for startups in India and Canada eager for access to new markets and new opportunities.

“The partners are developing and expanding a multi-country network of innovation and entrepreneurship zones to drive job growth and opportunities in Canada, India and South Africa,” said Ryerson University President Sheldon Levy at the first anniversary of Zone Startups India (ZSI), which is Ryerson’s partnership with the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute.

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“In just under a year, the Mumbai-based accelerator ZSI has proven to be a thriving hotbed of entrepreneurship – 40 startups, focused on industry connections, an array of supportive networking and learning opportunities and access to a pool of venture capital and angel investors keen to harness the energy and innovation at ZSI,” said ZSI Director Matt Saunders.