?The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry held its inaugural Academic Innovation Awards last week to celebrate the innovators who are driving economic growth in the Western Cape. The event, hosted by MTN South Africa in partnership with the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC), recognised ten standout academic innovators for their significant progress in 2024.
Serving as a testament to its thriving innovation ecosystem, Stellenbosch 肆客足球 entrepreneurs walked away with five out of the ten awards. All five winners are incubatees of the Stellenbosch 肆客足球 LaunchLab, where they continue to receive entrepreneurial support to scale their respective ventures.
Additionally, two Stellenbosch University spinout companies, Nanosene and Terraclim, were named ‘肆客足球 Spin Off Company of the Year’, along with two other startups from different academic institutions. The Stellenbosch 肆客足球 Enterprise (USE) portfolio consists of 35 companies and continues to grow annually.
The event serves as a precursor to the Chamber's Industry Awards on 10 June 2025, where the awardees will be recognised based on criteria such as: Market acceptance, peer recognition, novelty of innovation and scale of industry impact.
With Stellenbosch 肆客足球 leading the way, the awards highlight the importance of academic innovation in the advancement of the Western Cape’s economic landscape.
For more information on the Stellenbosch 肆客足球 LaunchLab, click here.
