Battle of the Campuses Makes Student Entrepreneurship Big at UKZN

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UKZN InQubate hosted its first installment of the Battle of the Campuses Challenge, a competition aimed at showcasing the entrepreneurial initiatives of students across the University’s five campuses.

Themed: “Adrenalising Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, the competition funded viable student-owned businesses, helping budding student entrepreneurs kick-start their entrepreneurial journeys.

The event was attended by more than 230 students, who wore t-shirts representing their campuses in support of their peers.

UKZN Dean of Research, Professor Neil Koorbanally, said Higher Education Institutions offered students more than just qualifications, but a set of skills that allowed them to have the upper hand in entrepreneurship and the work place.

Noting the benefit of competing, Koorbanally said, ‘It makes you realise your full potential and want to be better than anyone else in the world…which is what we hope to see here today, the best of the best in student entrepreneurs competing!’

Twenty-six contestants battled it out with a round of elevator pitch presentations and question and answer sessions to a panel of esteemed judges made up of experts from legal organisations, government, skills development organisations, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The contestants competed in four categories, namely, the Early Starters, designed for first-year students to pitch their business ideas and offerings; the Start-up Cultivator, offering budding entrepreneurs a platform to pitch their nascent business concepts; the Innovation Challenge, where students presented ground breaking ideas with the potential to revolutionise industries; and the Start-up Booster, for experienced student entrepreneurs who are already running their own businesses.

Mr Khutšo Ramontja, Interim Officer at UKZN InQubate, thanked the judges and sponsors for their support. He lauded the competition for being ‘a preeminent university-based entrepreneurship and innovation propeller in Africa,’ with its inclusion of a category designed specifically for first-year students.

A total of R285 000 business funding was awarded. Sponsors included the Coastlands Hotel who gave away a two-night stay worth R5 000 and a dinner worth R1 000 to the winners of the Start-up Cultivator and Start-up Booster category, respectively. Adams and Adams also who sponsored R15 000 worth of trademark registration and R4 000 cash to the Start-up Booster category winner.

Seasoned student entrepreneur and winner of the Start-up Booster category, Ms Ayavuya Sibisi, who owns Tropical Paradise Smoothie Bar, a mobile smoothie bar that operates on the Howard College campus walked away with R50 000. Having entered a few student entrepreneurial competitions before, and being the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) Intervarsity Regional Round winner, Sibisi was met with raving reviews from the judges who were proud of her progress and achievements thus far.

Walking away with R35 000 in the Innovation Challenge, Westville campus student, Mr Andile Mngadi, who owns Balela App, a personalised learning platform that leverages on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to offer individualised tutoring for students, discussed the resistance he had received from the Education Department in piloting his project during the question and answer session.

The winner for the Start-up Cultivator category went to Medical School student, Mr Buhlebuyeza Mazibuko, whose idea for Buhle’s Bread Box aimed at addressing bread shortages in the rural community of Estcourt, who were often met with bread being undelivered due to rainy conditions and inadequate road infrastructure. Mazibuko who delivered his presentation with zeal walked away with R25 000.

First prize winner in the Early Starters category, Ms Nontokozo Mdletshe, whose business focuses on reselling student textbooks and gadgets, acting as a middleman to benefit both buyers and sellers, was in tears as she also received R25 000. The judges bantered that the Howard College student had been an entrepreneur of conviction during her presentation, having rejected a donation of clothes to sell (made by one of the judges) as a means of gaining capital for her business. 

Other awards included the Entrepreneurial Campus and Entrepreneurial Ambassador of the Year which were won by Edgewood campus and EDHE Community of Practice (COP) Member, Mr Tsepo “Majuba” Tsotetsi.

Tsotetsi was widely praised by both students and staff for his contributions in advancing student entrepreneurship and his motto of ‘making entrepreneurship big at UKZN.’

Mr Octavius Phukubje, Director at the Mr Price Foundation, said he was inspired to see so many emerging student entrepreneurships and especially proud of the first-year students who had come out of high school and identified a problem that could be solved by their businesses.

Congratulating UKZN for coming up with a much-needed initiative, Ms Gugu Mosalanyane Chief Operating Officer at Ymie Mine Solutions said, ‘As entrepreneurs, we are the backbone of the country so it’s important for those skills to be groomed at university level.’

UKZN alumnus and founder of Maichatron, Mrs Nonjabulo Gumede, delivered the keynote address and shared her lived experiences as an entrepreneur.

Words: Hlengiwe Khwela

Photographs: Tisetso Nhlapo