UCT GSB’s e-Track programme selected 15 African startups for second round

For the second round of the e-Track Programme, a three-phase venture acceleration program conducted by the UCT GSB Solution Space in collaboration with ayoba, fifteen businesses from across the continent have been chosen.

The most recent e-Track Program kicked off five weeks ago with the first phase, Venture Launch. It is managed by UCT GSB Solution Space, a specialized centre of the University of the Cape Town Graduate School of Business focused on high-impact early startups, corporate innovation, and entrepreneurship development.

The result was a cohort of over 40 ventures that was reduced to 15 for the subsequent round, known as Venture Exploitation, following two days of competitive pitching to a panel of industry experts. Startups working in sectors including education, agriculture, wellness, marketing, climate change, and AI are accepted at this stage, and they come from all across the continent, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Namibia, and South Africa.

The shortlisted businesses include the peer-to-peer teaching and learning platform Sgela Saam, the sleep consultant Sleep Science, the prescription management tool Prescribe, and more. All are high-impact businesses, and the cohort also includes the sanitation provider Flushh, the platform for safe transportation Kids Transportation Tool, and the service for validating bank transfers Biz 301.

“This year saw a record number of participants in Venture Launch and consequently a record number of startups pitching for Venture Exploitation, which shows that innovation is alive and well on the continent,” said Vanessa Ramanjan, programme manager at the UCT GSB Solution Space. “While we would love to have accepted all of them into the second phase, we had to make some tough calls and only select 15.”

The program has begun, and it will end in November.