Tshwane, Thursday 24 November 2016, In celebration of the Global Entrepreneurship Week 2016, The Innovation Hub, the innovation agency of the Gauteng Province is pleased to announce the winners of the 5^th prestigious Gauteng Accelerator Programme (GAP) Innovation Competitions for 2016. These awards honoured top innovators and entrepreneurs for their outstanding work in the Smart Industry, Green Economy, Biosciences and Medical sectors. This year, a new category ‘Gauteng Accelerator Township Economy (GATE) aimed at township originating and impacting innovations was included in line with the Gauteng Government’s Township Economy Revitalisation programme. The awards ceremony attracted dignitaries from international public and private sectors.

“The GAP Innovation Competitions are an important mechanism for promoting innovation and technology advancement within key sectors whilst building a culture of innovation in Gauteng in line with our Innovation and Knowledge Economy Strategy (GIKES). This is critical for new enterprise development and creating sustainable employment to transform the economy of our province”- The DDG for the Department of Economic Development in Gauteng, Mr Motlatjo Mohlowa.

 “We are pleased with the calibre of the winners that came out of this year’s GAP Innovation Competitions, we are looking forward to supporting their innovations as they will improve the lives of the majority of our citizens and play a bigger role in advancing services in the private and public sectors. The winners will be incubated at The Innovation Hub’s Maxum Business Incubator and receive specialist product development support from the Climate Innovation Centre, mLab, BioPark and the eKasiLabs facilities which are located in the townships- - Mr McLean Sibanda, CEO of The Innovation Hub 

The winners walked away with a total of R 2.8 million prize money (cash and seed fund) and will be provided with other value added services to assist in the commercialisation of the technologies at The Innovation Hub for a year. The prizes and support for the programmes were made possible by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and Emory University through its Goizueta Business School. The winners were chosen by adjudication panels after a rigorous process and they consisted of national and international industry experts, entrepreneurs and field specialists. The winners are as follows:

1.    Representing the highest level of work in ICT-based solutions, such as mobile applications, the GAP ICT award winners are:

1^st place: Nkosana Mabuza-Spacedecode - a workflow platform that turns infrastructure into code (by combining Linux containers with version control), allowing software developers to build, test and deploy using one tool.

2.    In addressing socio-economic challenges working on green technologies, the GAP Green award winner is:

1^st place: Elijah Djan – Nubrix- recycles waste paper to create quality affordable bricks to be used for building. The bricks are three times cheaper than conventional bricks and just as strong as conventional bricks.

3.    In identifying health technology innovations that contribute to the improvement of health care service delivery, the GAP Medical award winner is:

1^st place: Moses Kabelepile – Asthma Grid- This invention is an electronic medical device that computes and grades the stages of Asthma aetiology and severity with the capacity to predict eminent Asthma attacks and future attacks. The one design is a hand held unit, and other is a wrist wear device with dermal patches and a mouth-piece. 

4.    In recognizing entrepreneurs for their accomplishments and breakthrough in the biosciences sector, winner of the GAP Biosciences award is:

1^st place: Dr Collet Dandara - UCT - This technology proposes to come up with a kit/test to reduce cost and improve quality of life for patients on Efavirenz (EFV) based HIV/AIDS treatment through the use of a genetic test that addresses adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

5.    Winners of the GATE AWARDS are:

1^st place winners:

Nathacia Oliver - Indoni Beauty Range- an african female owned company based in Ekurhuleni that manufactures / produces skin and hair care products handmade from natural ingredients, food compounds, edible oils and essential oils that contain healing properties.

·         Obakeng Seageng – nxusLinq- a new innovative solution to networking in towns and townships. It aims to connect customers, businesses and local government in order to grow local economies by increasing interaction and dependence on each stakeholder.

Patrick Mokoma - Mokoma TMPC Manufacturing- the company manufactures and supplies steel trolleys of all types.

·         Oscar Monama – Vuleka- is an innovative app that has an ordering and payment platform, which facilitates bulk purchases for informal businesses who then get it goods delivered at a discounted rate while offering manufacturers and suppliers access to informal businesses thus creating economic participation for youth community members and sustainable informal businesses.