South African pay-TV company MultiChoice has partnered with the LaunchLab business incubator at Stellenbosch University to launch a media breakthrough innovation challenge, offering winners a share of ZAR100,000 (US$6,500) in seed funding and incubation support.
The partnership will be driven by the LaunchLab Breakthrough Innovation Platform to capture new ideas and business models that can change the future of media. MultiChoice is involved as it is looking to find new ways of collecting and analysing the preferences of consumers, creating content and providing entertainment.
The programme extends across all universities in the Western Cape, tapping into student and non-student entrepreneurs as well as communities of innovative thinkers and creators.
Philip Marais, chief executive officer (CEO) of LaunchLab, said this is an exciting partnership for the LaunchLab and enables a focused innovation approach.
“We have been running the Pitching Platform for more than three years, and many good ideas have been pitched in the Paid Media vertical,” he said.
“However, this year participants in the Paid Media vertical will have an opportunity to showcase their business ideas to MultiChoice and, if successful, win a share of over ZAR100,000 in seed funding and incubation support in the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab facility. This is an awesome opportunity for any aspiring entrepreneur.”
LaunchLab will host a two-hour workshop on March 3 where participants can learn more about the media-focused challenge and engage directly with MultiChoice. This workshop leads into the Pitching Platform, where the judges will look for ideas with business potential that will move towards the next breakthrough innovation in media.
