24 Aug 2020

Winners of the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH)’s BOOST UP Programme Competition will be enrolled in an online incubation programme from September to November 2020. 

The BOOST UP programme is aimed at supporting early stage start-ups that use technology to solve societal challenges in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA recently, BIH’s Brand and Communications Manager, Ms Kemiso Ben said the incubation will be followed by a training bootcamp and pitching competition between the different countries’ winners, organised virtually from Helsinki, Finland in November 2020.  Ms Ben highlighted that the programme was supported by the Southern Africa Innovation Support (SAIS 2) and administered by the member organisations network in the five SADC countries, revealing that in Botswana the Programme was administered by BIH.

“This year, the annual competition attracted 83 applications from Botswana and 30 submissions were shortlisted to attend the Business Model Canvas and Pitch Deck training. Furthermore, 11 finalists were selected to attend the national pitching competition recently,” she said. 

Ms Ben said following intensive training on the Art of Pitching, the 11 finalists took to the stage to compete for a spot in the next leg, which was the regional competition.  

She stated that the four winners: Kesego Mosime for First-Aid Counselling App; Loatile Nkala for Doctors E-Consult App; Kenneth Setimela for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Accounting Solutions as well as Sam Sono for Transport and Logistics App,” presented solutions that would help in addressing some of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Ms Ben said in 2019, BIH sponsored four Boost Up winners; Kalahari Honey, Mohiri, Sakab Holdings and Cyber Kajumo Rigs to the Global Slush Competition in Helsinki, Finland.  

“Two of the start-ups; Mohiri & Kalahari Honey, were awarded mentorship from Troy Woodson and Futurice respectively. Both Troy Woodson and Futurice have Finnish roots. Troy Woodson is a business strategies and marketing business, while Futurice deals with digital strategies and turning technology into business. Each of the four participating start-ups also received two years’ worth of Amazon Web Services hosting. Amazon Web Services provides start-ups with low cost, easy to use infrastructure needed to scale and grow any size business,” she said. 

“The coaching that the innovators receive on their journey to the international stage pitching helps them gain practical tools to develop a pitch that is attractive to investors.  BIH continues to deliver on one of its functions of creating opportunities for start-ups to present their innovative solutions to potential investors. Today, the growth and ability to penetrate the market of the 2019 Boost Up Competition winners is attributable to the exposure they received through the Boost Up Programme” said Ms Ben. Ends