Entrepreneurs from Oslo on internships at the Hub

Five students from the University of Oslo in Norway participated in a three month internship at the Hub as part of a study programme run by the Norwegian School of Entrepreneurship. The objective of their visit to South Africa is to interact with local entrepreneurs and gain an understanding of market dynamics in this country.

University of Oslo interns participated on a three weeks internship
programme at maxum Business Incubator at The Innovation Hub.

Hailing from different backgrounds and different parts of Norway, the students were a part of an 18-member summer internship programme. The students were employed at different companies in Johannesburg and Pretoria and attended evening lectures in entrepreneurship at the Wits Business School in Johannesburg.

All five interns at the Hub worked with start-up companies in the maxum Business Incubator. According to maxum manager, Jill Sawers, the interaction between the interns and entrepreneurs was mutually beneficial. The interns gained valuable real-time work experience, while the start-ups and the Incubator itself benefited from additional resources as well as new approaches and fresh insights into every day business issues.

The three interns employed at the maxum - Thorleif Eng Jakobsen, Marius Kristiansen and Kristian Solvberg - shared professional skills in the fields of politics, strategy, finance and marketing. They regarded their internship as a great opportunity to get "hands-on" experience with start-up companies and the running of incubation programmes.

The group felt that their skills complimented one another and added some value to the Hub. After their first month at the Hub they had the opportunity, with considerable responsibility, to be involved in the daily operations of maxum.

Carina Reinholtsen, skilled in social science and currently doing her Masters in Planning and Cultural Studies, worked with Mohwiti Technologies, a black-owned and managed company focusing on developing Open Source software solutions. Carina was involved as a project co-ordinator in a number of the company's projects, and helped to compile business proposals, undertake market research, meet clients and assist with daily operations.

Lene Eliassen, a Mechanical Engineering postgraduate, chose engineering start-up Automotive Product Development (APD) for her internship and worked with the APD ProEngineering computer program team.

"We are all very satisfied with our stay in South Africa, and are interested in doing some more work in this beautiful country, if an interesting opportunity arises," they agreed when asked at their farewell function where maxum manager, Jill Sawers thanked them for their input and wished them well in their future endeavours.

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