On 16 November 2017, The Innovation Hub, the innovation agency of the Gauteng province, hosted the Gauteng Accelerator Programme (GAP) Innovation Competitions to recognize and reward innovative technologies with potential to significantly impact the Gauteng economy. The winners were announced during a gala dinner hosted at The Innovation Hub during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
The Gauteng Accelerator Programme (GAP) is in its sixth year and seeks innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs that are working on technologies and methods which would improve the efficiency of government service delivery; increase the competitiveness of the local economy; and enhance the quality of life of ordinary citizens. The categories of the awards are ICT, Medical, Biosciences, Green economy and Township economy.
Since inception in 2011, the five categories of GAP have attracted more than 1 500 entries and invested over R10 million in seed funding and incubation support to over 55 start- ups.
"We are excited about the innovations and the calibre of entries and winners that came from this year’s GAP Innovation Competitions, we are looking forward to supporting the development of these innovations for improved government service delivery. 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," said McLean Sibanda, CEO of The Innovation Hub.
1st place winner in the ICT Category is:
Multifractal Semiconductors - Multifractal semiconductors is a deep tech/frontier tech start up that has developed enabling technologies for single-chip low-cost high-bandwidth millimet re-wave wireless telecommunications systems such as 5G cellular.
1st place winner in the Medical Category is:
PRD Solutions - The PARA-TUBE is a wheel chair seating, with a built in toilet, that retro fits into any existing wheel chair. There is a lack of facilities for disabled people globally and the PARA-TUBE allows wheel chair bound or semi wheel chair bound individuals to be able to access any facility without having to leave his/her wheel chair to use the toilet.
1st place Winner in the GAP BIOSCIENCE category is:
Field Lab - Field Lab believes that anyone should be able to perform accurate, rapid biological tests regardless of the infrastructure available, with affordable equipment.
1st place Winner of the Gauteng Accelerator Township Economy is:
Technological Plumbing Solutions - Technological plumbing solutions is a plumbing company that offers two innovative products called“Sewage and Geyser spill reporting monitors” that act as a security feature guarding and reporting on geyser leaks and sewage spills as they start to happen.