15 African Startups Join the Next Phase of UCT GSB’s e-Track Programme

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 startups 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 center of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business focused on high-impact early startups, corporate innovation, and entrepreneurship development.

This was followed by a cohort of over 40 ventures being reduced to 15 for the following phase, called Venture Exploitation, which involved two days of competitive pitching to a panel of industry experts.

Startups from all over the continent, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Namibia, and South Africa, are welcome at this stage. They work in sectors like education, agriculture, wellness, marketing, climate change, and AI.

The chosen startups include the peer-to-peer teaching and learning platform Sgela Saam, the prescription management service Prescribe, and the sleep consultancy Sleep Science. All are high-impact businesses, and the cohort also includes Flushh, a company that provides sanitation services, Kids Transportation Service, a platform for safe transportation, and Biz 301, a startup that verifies bank transfers.

According to Vanessa Ramanjan, program manager at the UCT GSB Solution Space, “this year witnessed a record number of participants in Venture Launch and subsequently a record number of firms pitching for Venture Exploitation, which proves that innovation is alive and well on the continent.” We had to make some difficult decisions and only chose 15, even though we would have loved to invite everyone into the second phase.

The program started today and will end in November.