The University of Cape Town (UCT) and Futurize Announce Strategic Partnership
The University of Cape Town (UCT), with its mission to promote inclusivity and tackle contemporary challenges through advanced teaching, research, and state-of-the-art facilities in South Africa and beyond, partners with Futurize as an official university partner for Fuel Africa 2024, an entrepreneurship program to address the most pressing challenges in healthcare and climate change.
LONDON, Mar. 1, 2023 - Futurize, driven by a goal to cultivate and grow university-student and youth-led entrepreneurial ventures, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT), Africa's top-rated university and one of the leading universities in the world, committed to establishing itself as a research-focused African university that embraces inclusivity and tackles contemporary challenges through advanced teaching, research, and state-of-the-art facilities.
This landmark collaboration sets the stage for the launch of Fuel Africa 2024, a program aimed to catalyse innovation within emerging entrepreneurs across the African continent. The program, scheduled from March 20th to April 3rd, 2024, offers young leaders skill-building and immersive learning experiences to foster solutions addressing Africa’s foremost challenges, particularly in healthcare access, early detection of non-communicable diseases, and climate change mitigation, addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The program will offer the most promising teams the opportunity to apply for their incubator program to accelerate their idea and build a minimum viable product (MVP).
Futurize’s Fuel Africa Cohort in 2023
UCT’s commitment to the UN SDGs underlines its role in addressing global challenges through research. Their researchers persistently contribute to developing Africa-centric solutions for worldwide issues, encompassing climate change, urbanization, safety and security, education, and health. This commitment places UCT in a pivotal role as a partner for Fuel Africa 2024. The university also gives students a platform to build their leadership and service skills that can help them address societal problems through entrepreneurship. As we approach the highly-anticipated launch of the third edition of the Fuel Africa program, it is our privilege to have UCT as our official strategic ecosystem partner in South Africa.
Nadia Waggie, Head: Sustainability & Impact (Careers) at UCT, says, “Through the collaborative efforts of the Fuel Africa Programme, UCT and Futurize are paving the way for a new era of entrepreneurship in Africa. This collaboration aims to not only strengthen entrepreneurial initiatives across the continent but also to foster enduring relationships with universities and their vibrant student communities. Together, we are building a foundation for sustainable growth and innovation in the entrepreneurial landscape of Africa.”
The goal of the Fuel Africa program and the alliance between Futurize and UCT is to bolster entrepreneurial initiatives across the continent, especially among university students. This collaboration involves establishing a solid community, offering students technical support and mentorship to develop new startups, and creating an international platform to capitalise on their potential and kick off their careers.
Fuel Africa 2024 is setting the stage for future program co-creation and collaboration opportunities with UCT across South Africa and the African continent.
About Futurize
Futurize turns university students into entrepreneurs. We deliver cutting-edge innovation and accelerator programs that enable world-class universities and businesses to collaborate to build early-stage ventures. We support the growth of purpose-driven ventures and provide entrepreneurship training through a global platform of 40+ leading universities, Fortune 500 companies, investors, and social enterprises. Futurize founders and startups have raised a collective $1.5 M in funding to date. Find out more at www.futurize.studio
To learn more about the Fuel Africa 2024 program, please visit our official website at www.futurize.studio/fuel-africa
About The University of Cape Town (UCT)
UCT is one of the leading higher education institutions on the African continent and has a tradition of academic excellence that is respected worldwide. UCT aspires to become a premier academic meeting point between South Africa, the rest of Africa, and the world. Taking advantage of expanding global networks and their distinct vantage point in Africa, they are committed, through innovative research and scholarship, to grapple with the key issues of the natural and social worlds. They aim to produce graduates whose qualifications are internationally recognised and locally applicable, underpinned by values of engaged citizenship and social justice.
Find out more at https://uct.ac.za/
