International clean-tech startup incubator The Hatchery has launched its new Africa office in Cape Town, South Africa, aiming to discover and support cutting-edge entrepreneurs in areas such as smart utility metering, solar energy, and mobile financial platforms.
Also based out of Oslo and Detroit, The Hatchery is an international clean-tech incubator that is invested in technologies that increase productivity or profitability while reducing resource consumption or pollution.
The launch of its Cape Town office is designed to extend its work in finding and supporting innovative entrepreneurs on the African continent, and will provide project founders with the benefits of the incubator’s unique approach to supporting entrepreneurs that includes flexible timelines and budgets, and advisory support with a host of project-related tasks.
“We release founders from the time-consuming tasks of raising funds and running a business because these often aren’t their core skills,” said Jon Bhmer, The Hatchery’s Norwegian investor. “We want them to have enough time to focus on their creative innovation because that’s the lifeblood of their business.”
The new Cape Town office supports five clean-tech projects: The Pulse, which provides smart utility metering in developing economies; SwiftPower, a technology solution to upgrade utility meters; Oasis, a blockchain exchange funding small-scale solar projects in Africa; PushMoney, a platform supporting mobile orders and transactions; and Pawa, a platform providing free solar energy to impoverished communities.
The managing director of the Cape Town office, Chwayita Nqiwa-Twalo, said it was a privilege to have the opportunity to identify, build, and support such exciting entrepreneurial brands.
“What sets us apart as venture builders is that we take the burden of responsibility away from the founder by ensuring we’ve got the right experts to advise on taking the business forward”, she said.
