This week, Alderman James Vos, the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth joined the City’s tech industry partner for their brand relaunch – from the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) to UVU AFRICA – and the unveiling of their new Cape Town Innovation Hub and BioTech Laboratory in Woodstock.
The new site boasts more co-working spaces, a biotech lab, and an event space geared for creators to showcase their work and concepts. At BioCiTi, the tech incubator is helping to produce industries of the future by creating a bridge between research and commercialisation of ideas based on the application of technology to biological sciences.
The new lab will have more space for innovators to test and develop products such as Africa’s first-ever cultivated beef burger from local start-up, Mzansi Meat Company.
‘Through City-funded initiatives, UVU AFRICA has played a critical role in growing the metro’s IT workforce and helping local entrepreneurs to make their innovative ideas a reality,’ said Alderman Vos.
CapaCiTi, the organisation’s digital skills accelerator, created over 5 000 job opportunities in the last four years through ICT and digital skills development. Their township and informal economy programmes have supported more than 1 000 entrepreneurs and informal traders, and the Women In Business project has enabled 2 500 women to compete in the digital economy over the last few years.
‘Cape Town has earned the reputation of being a continental tech capital because of the City government’s partnerships with high growth industry organisations such as UVU AFRICA, which has supported thousands of local entrepreneurs and young Capetonians looking to get a foot in the digital door of the more than 500 tech companies that have made our metro their home,’ said Alderman Vos.
Caption 1: (From left to right) Joshin Raghubar, Chair of UVU AFRICA's board; Dheepak Maharajh, head of the BioCiTi lab; Lance Greyling, Director of the Enterprise and Investment Department in the City's Economic Growth Directorate; Alderman James Vos, the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth; Ian Merrington, CEO of UVU AFRICA; Tshekedi Rammutla from the Small Enterprise Development Agency
Caption 2: (From left to right) Chanel Oldfield, the Operations Executive of CapaCiTi; Joshin Raghubar, Chair of UVU AFRICA's board; Lara Rosmarin, the Head of Entrepreneur Development and Incubation at UVU AFRICA; Alderman James Vos, the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth; Ian Merrington, CEO of UVU AFRICA; Dheepak Maharajh, head of the BioCiTi lab; Lance Greyling, Director of the Enterprise and Investment Department in the City's Economic Growth Directorate .
Source: City Of Cape Town