Local clean technology start-ups receive Unido support
CLEANTECH RISING Semifinalists of Unido's Global Cleantech Innovation Programme undergo a training and mentorship programme to help develop their SMEs
Photo by Bloomberg
CLAUDIA GIACOVELLI The GCIP tries to transfer a full skillset, which can be used from business start-up to product commercialisation and business expansion
Twenty-eight teams, announced earlier this month, have reached the semifinals of the South African leg of the 2015 United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (Unido’s) Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The winner will be announced on October 15 at an awards ceremony, which will take place in Gauteng.
The GCIP runs in seven developing nations, including South Africa, where it is being implemented by the South Africa-based Technology Innovation Agency. Other participating nations include Armenia, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey.
Unido international energy and low- carbon programme coordinator Claudia Giacovelli tells Engineering News that the GCIP is a combined competition and business accelerator programme “aimed at attracting the most promising cleantech entrepreneurs and businesses”.
Each team is selected from about 120 applicants, based on the strength of its business plan, from proof of concept to precommercialisation, for the development of technology in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency, water efficiency and waste beneficiation.
The semifinalists are undergoing a training and mentorship programme to help develop and grow their SMEs into sustainable businesses. The training and mentorship programme will be concluded at the end of next month and will be followed by a business pitch by each team to a panel of judges. The winner will be chosen based on the strength of the presentation and training outcomes.
Giacovelli notes that the training requires each team to have at least two members, as each team is required to complete ten webinar training modules and submit a worksheet on each module while still managing its SME as an individual. The worksheets are used to assess the teams’ ability to apply the theory of each webinar module in a practical business situation.
“The GCIP tries to transfer a full skills set to the team, which can be used from business start-up to product commercialisation and business expansion,” she states.
Teams receive training on the development and structure of a business model, product and market identification, business partnerships, technology validation, business sustainability, finance and funding, team management, mergers and acquisitions, and how to present a strong business proposal.
The winners from the seven participating nations receive a monetary prize, as well as media exposure and a trip to participate in the world’s largest green technology accelerator for start-up companies, the Cleantech Open, which is being held in November, in Silicon Valley, California.
The event will provide each of the GCIP winners with an opportunity to pitch their businesses to potential international investors and secure invaluable business relationships.
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation