Zaio, a member of the third cohort of Injini’s incubation programme, is a platform that is helping innovators make their dreams a reality. Businesses can access the largest pool of elite junior developers to build their prototypes, hire as a team or recruit for full-time employment.
“We equip our developers with industry-relevant coding skills through a gamified learning journey with a strong emphasis on getting them practical experience,” says founder and CEO Mvelo Hlophe.
Mvelo, who’s currently in his final year at UCT, says Zaio came about to solve the mismatch between the technical talent that is required in industry and the talent that is currently being produced in the country.
“We saw this first hand in university. Initially, we wanted to solve this issue for university students but soon saw that there is a lack of access, generally, to coding material so we opened our offering to all people looking to learn how to code”.
Now, Mvelo is set on building a global company.
“We want to spread our upskilling efforts across Africa. We plan to help people out of poverty through teaching them to be software developers and providing part-time and full-time work for them.”
Further, they envision Africa as a hub for innovation and the place where people around the world look for software development talent that is affordable and of quality.
“We want to hold the largest community of talent that will be the basis of global innovation. We have already built projects for clients from Europe using African developers. We want to replicate this over until people think Africa instead of India for the use of affordable tech talent.”
Mvelo met Injini founder and director Jamie Martin when he was a first-year student at UCT.
“He was a mentor in one of entrepreneurship programs at the time, “says Mvelo.
“He mentioned that he was starting a ‘cluster’ soon which he called Injini. Since then I have kept a close eye on the program and how it developed into what it is today.”
Impressed with Injini’s growth story, Mvelo decided to apply to the incubation programme. He also felt that Injini’s mission was aligned with what “we are on a mission to achieve”.
And participating in the incubation programme has helped shape his business model to make a real impact.
“We also met great mentors that continue to help us.”
Mvelo encourages other EdTech startups to apply to Injini.
“The Injini team is committed to helping each startup and entrepreneur in the program. The support within the program will help take your business to the next level. Be sure to know what you want to achieve within the program and focus on that.”
Applications for Injini’s fourth cohort are now open. If you have a technology-driven innovation and are passionate about improving educational outcomes on the continent, apply today, and unlock access to a network of mentors and resources to help you scale. Apply now here: https://injiniedtech.typeform.com/to/lL4kLE
