“We are in business”
“We are in business”
Mr Paseka Mokoena with judges and adjudicators at the Sedibeng #PitchingBooster campaign fueled by Gauteng Enterprise Propeller
Selina Rapulane
On 14 February 2018, Mr Paseka Mokoena, a VUT-Sasol Entrepreneurship Programme Cohort 7 Alumnus scooped funding for his company at The Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) Pitching Booster held at Emerald Casino, VanderbijlPark.
After graduating from the VUT-Sasol Entrepreneurship Programme on 13 October 2017, Mr Mokoena (23), Mr Refiloe Mpelo (25) and Ms Nompumelelo Hoboyi (19) attended the Start-Up weekend Programme held from 27-29 October 2017 at the Sebokeng Ekasi Lab. There they won a nine months incubation for their project. They then decided to start their own tech company called Afrinnovix.
After seeing the GEP competition advertised on Facebook, the trio decided to apply and their application was successful. Mr Mokoena attended on behalf of the company. The event was held over two days: advice on business and pitching was offered on the first day while the second day was for the actual pitching.
The GEP Pitching Booster invited 150 SMMES and 50 unemployed youth from Sedibeng to pitch their businesses or business ideas for a funding opportunity.
Afrinnovix was successful and the company is thrilled.
“We benefitted from everything we learnt through the VUT-Sasol entrepreneurship programme and we feel proud that our hard work and determination is paying off even though we still have a long way to go,” said Mr Mokoena.
The three are determined to grow their company and offer technologies that will make life easier for society. They are using the Science Park’s Fab-Lab facilities for most of their experiments and 3D printing machines for prototypes. They are still incubated at the lab and are working on their prototype which is a backup power phone pouch – a smartphone accessory.
GEP promotes, fosters and develops small enterprises in Gauteng thereby implementing the policy of the Gauteng Provincial Government for small enterprise development.