SU LaunchLab’s offering to Maties Alumni
Since its establishment in 2015, SU LaunchLab has actively engaged with startup teams, gaining recognition as a top incubator in South Africa and the top university incubator in Africa from 2017 to 2020 by UBI Global. We are extending our award-winning programmes to SU Alumni, focusing on technology spinouts.
SU has around 30 companies in its group of spinouts, which had a combined turnover of R422m in 2023, and currently employ about 400 people. We receive annual dividends of more than R6m from these successful companies. Additionally, companies that have been incubated by SU LaunchLab since 2015 have collectively raised more than R700m in investments.
SU was also instrumental in raising the University Technology Fund (UTF) which launched in 2020. This fund was so successful that UTF2 already has committed funding. While UTF1 was purely for research spinouts, UTF2 will allow for 33% of its capital to be allocated to alumni companies, which they can gain access to through Innovus and SU LaunchLab.
We invite interested Maties Alumni to reach out below to find out more about our offerings and apply.
Countdown runs early in each half of the year.
Dates for the next programme are TBD.
Countdown
Countdown is an incubation programme for new technology ventures to help them determine if their busienss idea is both feasible and desirable. We help startup teams design their first value proposition and business model.
Countdown happens over the course of 6 weeks, and ends with a demo day with key stakeholders, including customers and investors.
The programme concludes with a Demo Day in front of key stakeholders, including potential customers and investors.
Lift-Off runs twice each year about 1 month following Countdown.
Dates for the next programme are TBD.
Lift-Off
Lift-Off helps founding teams get ready for Angel and Seed stage investment. We take teams through a structured programme to assemble an investment dataroom that is built to professional venture capital standards, based on our experience with helping startup teams raise capital.
This programme runs for 8 weeks, and includes basic templates and examples using free tools that teams can adapt for their own purposes.
The programme concludes with a Demo Day in front of key stakeholders, including potential customers and investors.
Participation
- Countdown is an investigation programme with no associated cost.
- For Lift-Off, a 5% equity stake is requested, with flexible and friendly equity agreement details.
- Commitment for the full duration of both Countdown and Lift-Off.
- Completion of deliverables for each session, emphasising theimportance of the process.
We invite alumni of Stellenbosch University to make SU LaunchLab a key partner as they start their ventures.
By joining us, you can utilise SU’s brand and trademark, our extensive network, Africa’s leading incubator (paid services and rent), and eligibility for UTF2.