Related Articles
Top Stories
Feb 13 2012 12:15
Miner Xstrata says it has brought forward maintenance on two furnaces to assist Eskom to save power.
Feb 13 2012 10:43
Although jobs were created, the economy is still 420 000 jobs short of the peak employment level before the 2009 global financial crisis, says Adcorp.
Feb 13 2012 07:58
Greek lawmakers have approved a new round of drastic austerity measures after a long day of street battles between police and protesters left dozens injured.
Johannesburg - Local technology entrepreneurs are becoming better at attracting the attention of venture funders by being smarter at aiming to compete globally.
According to Justin Stanford, head of venture funding group 4Di Capital, local technology innovators have improved the way they package and present their business plans to investors.
"In the past, many venture capital firms have complained that South African entrepreneurs presented them with insular business plans that only focus on South Africa," said Stanford. "They were not thinking globally."
He ascribed the improvement to more entrepreneurs making use of readily available material on the internet on the topic. He added it is becoming cheaper to start a technology business in SA, due to the improved availability of cost effective internet and hosting platforms.
Hard to track progress
However, Stanford said it is difficult to exactly measure the level of investment by venture capitalists, as no official way exists of tracking this.
Asked whether he believed investment in the South African venture capital sector had picked up recently as indicated by other industry players, Stanford concurred.
"I do think there has been an increase in activity as of late, with new players entering the local venture capital space and some older players reigniting their activities, all recognising the opportunity."
This lack of information in the venture capital sector is an issue that Stanford and leading technology entrepreneur Vinny Lingham aim to tackle with the launch of the Silicon Cape initiative which will provide investors and technology innovators with information about funding initiatives and industry news.
Stanford said after he and Lingham spent a few weeks together in Silicon Valley, California, early this year, they realised there were opportunities for a similar offering in South Africa.
"We shared a passion for the idea that Cape Town had the potential to become the Silicon Valley of Africa," he said.
The initiative has already engaged a number of leading Western Cape business people as well as premier Helen Zille, who has indicated her willingness to support the initiative.
- Fin24.com