Telkom’s Enterprise and Supplier Development programme, Telkom FutureMakers, has partnered with venture builder firm Aions Creative Technology to grow local start-ups.
This partnership comes on the back of a competitive pitching process where the venture builder firm was awarded R58 million in funding that will reflect Telkom FutureMakers’ commitment to growing and partnering with ICT SMMEs who form the backbone of the South African economy.
Mmathebe Zvobwo, Telkom Executive: Enterprise & Supplier Development, said what sets Aions apart from other entrants was that they provided both funding and end-to-end support for start-ups, which is in line with Telkom FutureMakers’ focus on innovation.
“Part of this focus includes the need for a suitable vehicle to achieve investments in innovation-based digital value propositions,” Zvobwo said.
Founded in 2015 and having assisted more than 2 500 SMMEs to date, Telkom FutureMakers’ vision was said to be to develop leading entrepreneurial programmes that invest in and incubate ICT businesses, provide access to market through their supply chains, work with youth and female owned businesses as well as promote inclusive innovation.
Since inception, Telkom FutureMakers is said to have invested R250 million into funding ICT businesses and was recognised by the Department of Small Business Development at the Inaugural Presidential SMME and Co-operatives Awards for consistently investing in the ICT sector.
The partnership with Aions aimed to continue the commitment of investing in small businesses in the ICT sector.
Mitchan Adams, co-founder and CEO of Aions, said the funding would enable Aions to ‘significantly grow’ the number of start-up businesses it was funding and mentoring.
“As venture builders, we provide the seed funding the start-ups need, and then work closely with the founders to transform them into a market-ready offering that can scale rapidly and employ more people themselves. We believe this approach resonated strongly with Telkom’s goal of growing and building businesses, especially in disadvantaged areas,” Adams said.
Zvobwo said ICT was a globally recognised industry with the potential to unlock employment opportunities, particularly for young people.
"It paves the way towards a brighter and more prosperous future for all, and our partnership with Aions Creative Technology was a natural fit as their mission of changing the current economy to be more robust and sustainable is in line with our purpose of growing the digital economy,” Zvobwo said.
Aions is currently mentoring three start-ups: Financial wellness and salary-linked benefit platform Level; electric scooter start-up Scooter; and Tubby’s Kitchen, which manufactures a range of healthy cannabis infused kitchen products for home use.
The Telkom funding will see this number grow to at least 10 in the coming 12 months, said Adams.
According to an article by business IT services provider Techtron, ICT is a broad sector that offers innovation opportunities with market gaps that South Africans could exploit while learning and upskilling themselves. It said mobile, cloud, social business and business analytics technologies were a just a few of the market gaps and were all interconnected. They said making the most of these opportunities would lead to immense economic activity and increased production levels, resulting in employment opportunities.
"Then from there, theoretically, it’s a domino effect: more employment leads to less poverty, and less poverty will result in an increased Gini coefficient.
"With the change to a knowledge-based economy, it is crucial to upskill South Africans with ICT skills, not only because ICT is key to SA growth and development, but to ensure that South Africa, along with the rest of Africa, plays a pivotal role in the future changes in global technology," Techtron said.
BUSINESS REPORT