{"id":35108,"date":"2013-04-08T13:39:55","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T11:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=35108"},"modified":"2013-04-08T14:33:30","modified_gmt":"2013-04-08T12:33:30","slug":"sa-seed-engine-fires-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/35108\/sa-seed-engine-fires-up\/","title":{"rendered":"SA Seed Engine fires up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>South African startups are in for a boost as tech-focussed business accelerator, Seed Engine, dishes out R100,000 to selected ventures.<\/p>\n<p>The accelerator&#8217;s first 13-week boot camp has already begun with six ventures selected from over 300 applications, while the next round of business ideas are being sought.<\/p>\n<p>The following six startups were selected to take part in the programme:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>IntelliCred.com &#8211; an online brand protection and authentication business;<\/li>\n<li>Cirqls.com &#8211; connects online buyers and sellers via social circles;<\/li>\n<li>After-Class.co.za &#8211; a social education network offering peer-to-peer support for students and teachers across school borders;<\/li>\n<li>zehoo.me &#8211; a mobile document aggregator;<\/li>\n<li>ChowHub &#8211; an online restaurant discovery and order platform;<\/li>\n<li>OnQ &#8211; restaurant process optimiser.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each of the selected ventures has been given R100,000 in seed capital to convert their ideas into practical business plans.<\/p>\n<p>These plans will then be showcased on 3 May to draw further investment from potential angel investors.<\/p>\n<p>According to the accelerator, entrepreneurs will be able to raise between R200,000 and R2 million in investment, depending on the business case.<\/p>\n<p>Entrepreneurs are undergoing coaching, mentoring and have been provided with work space and support and an opportunity to grow their concept into a business, Seed Engine said.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">The next round<\/h3>\n<p>Entries for the second round of investment are now open, Seed Engine said. The next programme will begin 1 June 2013.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are looking for early stage tech entrepreneurs who have killer ideas and big dreams and who are ready for a life-changing journey,\u201d said Seed Engine CEO, Marc Elias.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Backing<\/h3>\n<p>Seed Engine is an investment engine run in partnership with Redwood Capital.<\/p>\n<p>Redwood Capital has provided funding to develop the innovative workspace and is involved in the mentoring of entrepreneurs during the activation process.<\/p>\n<p>The accelerator also has backing and support from tech and other companies looking to boost start-up culture and employment in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>These include, Microsoft; ITEC; business advisors, PKF; coaching and leadership facilitation company, Urban Everest; and private property and construction company, Tiber.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">More on business accelerators<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"Seed tech investor reveals SA candidates\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/31830\/seed-tech-investor-selects-sa-candidates\/\"><strong>Seed tech investor reveals SA candidates<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"88mph dangles $200k investment carrot\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/18373\/88mph-dangles-200k-investment-carrot\/\"><strong>88mph dangles $200k investment carrot<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Applications flood in for Cape tech fund\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/28210\/applications-flood-in-for-cape-tech-fund\/\"><strong>Applications flood in for Cape tech fund<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South African start ups are in for a boost as tech-focussed business accelerator, Seed Engine, dishes out R100,000 to selected ventures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":35113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5542,26,5543,5540,5541],"class_list":["post-35108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-business-accelerator","tag-headline","tag-marc-elias","tag-seed-engine","tag-start-ups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35108"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35122,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35108\/revisions\/35122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}