Water-saving taps, fly larvae that turn organic waste into animal food and plastic car parts made from agricultural waste are among the innovations by entrepreneurs who have reached the final round in the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme South Africa (GCIP-SA) for small, medium-sized and microenterprises.
Eleven finalists have been chosen for their clean technology innovations, which provide solutions to serious environmental challenges.
The categories include energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste beneficiation, water efficiency, green building and green transport.
The finalists were selected by three provincial panels of independent judges from a pool of 22 semifinalists from across the country.
“The selection of the top performers for 2017 was based on key business aspects, such as product/market fit, business model, financing strategy, management team and sustainability,” GCIP-SA national project manager Gerswynn McKuur said in a statement.
Part of a global initiative, the GCIP-SA is a competition-based business accelerator offering participants extensive training and mentorship to help them get their products investment-ready and connect to networks of local and international peers, as well as potential partners and funders.
A winner and two runners-up have been selected by the judges, and were to be announced at a gala event on November 3, with Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor as the keynote speaker.
The winner will receive R120 000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Cleantech Open Global Forum, in California, in the US, to compete against the winners of other GCIP programmes from across the globe. The two runners-up will each receive R60 000.
Awards will also be given to the most promising female and youth teams, and for the innovation with the largest social impact.