MatiePreneurs , is a collaborative platform comprising the Community of Practice (CoP), to ensure that students at SU are aware of and have access to all of the entrepreneurial support initiatives that are on offer.

We support the Matiepreneurs committee in ensuring that access to input on entrepreneurship is accessible to every student that desires it. 

We host various entrepreneurial workshops for students throughout the year. The purpose of these workshops is to demystify entrepreneurship and show how attainable it really us to start your own venture. Workshop topics include: 

• Make it stick 
• SUccess factor 
• More than a logo 
• How they built it 
• Fail night 
• Mindset 

The Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme is an initiative by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), in collaboration with Universities South Africa. The purpose of the EDHE Intervarsity is to identify the top student entrepreneurs at the South African public universities, recognise and showcase their businesses, and invite investment into this cohort of student businesses.

SU LaunchLab runs the of the EDHE Intervarsity for SU. We curate entries from SU Students and host the SU competition. We also provide coaching and mentorship to ensure that SU campus winners perform as well as possible at the regional and national level competitions. 

At a national level, category winners each receive R20k, and the overall winner gets R100k. 

Dates for 2024 are: 

• Campus Round: 14-15 May
• Regional Round: 28 August
• National Round: 28-29 November

This one is for the data enthusiasts. Each year we partner with technology companies based in Stellenbosch to run the SU Hackathon over a weekend. Here our partners put forward challenges related to a theme and provide datasets, some technology tools, and technical mentorship over the course of a weekend for teams to build their solutions. The weekend ends with a demo of the solutions, and panels of judges for each challenge award prize money, which is provided by our sponsors. SU Hackathon is a great way to get some real world experience, as well as make your tech skills known to some exciting technology companies in Stellenbosch. 

2024 SU Hackathon is happend 16-18 August 2024. Check out our video!

Our Bootcamps take students through the process of discovering their own professional purpose and narrative, designing a value proposition, designing a business model, and pitching a solution, all over the course of 2 days. 

We work with faculty leadership to bring key entrepreneurial tools to interested students to learn the basics of what it takes to start a company. 

Bootcamps take place during the autumn, winter, and spring recesses throughout the year. 

Schedule for 2024:

• Faculties of EMS and Law: 2-5 April
• Faculty of Science: 16-17 July
• Faculties of Agriscience and Engineering: 18-19 July
• Faculty of EMS: 12-13 September

We provide engaging guest lectures on entrepreneurship to students across diverse faculties, fostering a dynamic learning experience.

Be on the lookout for emails and announcements by your lecturers and faculties!

Regular opportunities for students, researchers, faculty, and ecosystem partners from various backgrounds to come together for networking, food, fun, and learning. Check our events page for the full calendar.

Below is a form where students can request face-to-face engagements with various members of the SU LaunchLab team, as well as entrepreneurs in our community, to get feedback on their ventures without committing to a programme or event.