Johannesburg, South Africa – Vitruvian Medical Diagnostics, a startup that aims to make diagnostic pathology more accessible using technology, captured first prize at the national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup competition held recently in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The EWC South Africa was hosted by 22 On Sloane, the largest startup campus in Africa, which is based in Bryanston, South Africa. 22 On Sloane’s aim is to nurture the entrepreneurial mindset, ensure their sustainability, and explore development of new industries and contribute towards job creation in Africa. They offer startups and innovative SMEs a complete turnkey solution to scale, from initial idea to commercialisation, funding opportunities and access to markets.

Ifthakaar Shaik, Founder of Vitruvian Medical Diagnostics, Claybourne Appies, Founder of DeafTouch and Joseph Nyamariwata , founder of South African Influencers will advance to the next round of the global competition against national winners from 200 countries.

In preparation for the EWC Global Finals, Ifthakaar, Claybourne and Joseph will participate in an acceleration programme which features virtual training and one-to-one mentoring targeted to their company’s current stage and growth trajectory.

Vitruvian Medical Diagnostics emerged victorious from a pool of over 1000 contestants who applied and the top 14 SA National Finalists who got an opportunity to be mentored by Ziaad Suleman from EOH, Grace Legodi from the World Bank Group, Jessica Harvey, and Inayeth Govender from Tarsus on Demand and Olawale Anifowose from GEN Nigeria.

Other finalists at EWC South Africa included:

• · Zimwire: a platform that helping people send money from South Africa to Zimbabwe, they also have a mobile app to make orders , transact and sell different products
• · Online Selling Services: is a startup that gives local vendors an affordable platform to sell their goods while giving consumers access to their favorite local stores online
• · National Housing Stokvel Company (Pty) Ltd: Focuses on affordable housing and adjacent opportunities. They offer 0% interest free loans to low to middle income earners.
• · South Africa Influencers: Connects marketers with vetted influencers online. Their platform connects and launch marketing campaigns.
• · Deaftouch: Connects the world to the deaf through our accessible communication solutions that enable effective and efficient between the deaf/blind and organizations such as governments and private businesses that empower diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• · Mechro Africa: is a startup that developed TempCras, an automated online temperature and humidity monitoring system for cold chain assets. TempCras offers seamless monitoring on PC and mobile phones of all the temperature-humidity data related checks and balances. It also offers alerting functionality using emails and SMSs.
• · GEM: a female centric startup that caters for female consumers of beverages. gem nonalcoholic drink addresses the changes in consumer consumption globally for a healthier lifestyle
• · KasiCovocation: a social media platform based on ubuntu philosophy concept with a goal or aim of helping stokvel members in South Africa conduct their stokvel business in simply terms, offering financial management services and exposing them to better related services.
• · Silicon Energy Technology: a renewable energy entity which specializes in providing customers/communities with a fresher alternative to typical and existing energy solutions with the advantage of saving energy costs for customers
• · Solar Bakers: a startup that bake rusks from solar thermal energy and this is to prove that the solar baking technology that they developed is reliable, sustainable and have commercial value for private use and small business development
• · Ortune group: a digital B2B distribution company which aggregates independent retailers and informal traders buying in bulk for better pricing from suppliers while using the collected data to provide them with financial products management financings solutions
• · Elucidate Artificial Intelligence: a machine learning boutique firm which offers data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in marketing, credit as well as other industries.
• · Lima Tech: A platform that enables informal traders, spaza shops and independent retailer access seasonal price lock agreement through crowed sourcing from farmers.
• Judges for the competition were:
• · Ziaad Suleman, Chief Commercial Officer, EOH
• · Grace Legodi, Specialized Technical Committee, World Bank Group
• · Jessica Harvey, Product Marketing Manager, Tarsus on Demand
• · Inayeth Govender, Head of Market Development, Tarsus on Demand

More than 150,000 contestants from 200 countries entered the Entrepreneurship World Cup. The initiative combines a broad-reaching pitch competition, aimed at ventures ranging from idea stage to growth stage, with a virtual accelerator programme to help all participants launch, strengthen, and scale their enterprises. Global Finalists will face off against one another at the Misk Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in October.

EWC is an initiative led by the Misk Global Forum, Global Entrepreneurship Network and the Global Education and Leadership Foundation with support from a collection of national and global partners, including the GSV labs and Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

About the Misk Global Forum

The Misk Global Forum (MGF) is the flagship international platform of the Misk Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic foundation established by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discover, develop and empower Saudi youth to become active participants in the future economy. Since its launch in 2016, MGF has extended Misk’s mission to young people across the globe. Through international events, research and global initiatives, MGF brings together emerging and established leaders, innovators, and creators to explore, experience and experiment with ways to meet the challenge of change. MGF focuses on three core areas across its activations: skills for the future economy; entrepreneurship and employment; and active global citizenship. Website: https://miskglobalforum.com/about-mgf/

About the Global Entrepreneurship Network

The Global Entrepreneurship Network operates a platform of projects and programs in 170 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier entrepreneurial ecosystems that create jobs, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. Website: https://www.genglobal.org

About the Global Education & Leadership Foundation

The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF) is a non-profit that seeks to identify and nurture leadership skills in individuals who are rooted in the values of ethics and altruism, and have a bias for action. tGELF was officially inaugurated in 2008 by the then Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh. In the last decade, tGELF’s flagship school curriculum on ethical leadership and entrepreneurship has expanded from just six schools in India to over 3000 schools across 14 countries touching more than 3 million students. tGELF’s community of future leaders and change-makers have also undertaken numerous high impact projects that have collectively impacted the lives of over 500 million people and raised over $6.38 bn dollars in commitments from governments, philanthropists, corporations and multilaterals for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Website: http://www.tgelf.org