The Young Entrepreneur’s Product Launch
Cape Town, South Africa- The Young Entrepreneur’s product launch took place on the 8th of August in the Leslie Social Building at the University of Cape Town. The event was opened by the Springbok’s flank, Schalk Burger, and several University officials who were in attendance.
The young entrepreneurs are all members of the UCT Postgraduate diploma in management in entrepreneurship class of 2012. As part of the programme, the students have to complete an organisational project called the Genesis project. The students form groups of 6-8 individuals and have to come up with a product concept in line with the year’s theme and go on to manufacture and sell it. The students started with a start-up loan of R50 from which they had to generate enough of a return to fund the production process of their products. This year, the theme was ‘Sustainable Storage’, and the products had to be original and primarily assembled in South Africa.
The products showcased at the launch this year were wallets, hangers, pens, car bins, coffee cosies, watches and laptop bags. The products were all innovative and made of interesting materials. The product launch also provided the young entrepreneurs with much needed exposure for their products to the students and corporates alike. It was also a valuable networking opportunity.
The aim of the Genesis Project is to raise awareness amongst young entrepreneurs about the ways in which they can support local industry and contribute toward the South African economy. In the process, the class also learn how to start and run a sustainable business, financially, environmentally and socially through a hands-on, practical experience.
“Zacca” recycled plastic wallets
We a group of 7 students. Our team is manufacturing, marketing and selling functional wallets that are made from 100% recyclable plastic packets. The brand of our wallets is Zacca, taken from the South African Township slang meaning money. This concept is new to South Africa and reflects great innovation and creativity. We have the intention of providing a product “green” in both its nature and design, whilst encouraging sustainability in South Africa.
Each wallet requires only three plastic packets for full manufacturing and poses an opportunity to relieve our country of the terrible pollution that these plastic packets create in our environment.
By keeping things local; we will also keep our costs down as importing tends to be more expensive with increased distribution and currency exchange costs as well providing work for the community.
The development of our product has seen many prototypes. This is a necessary part in developing a product that will be well accepted by our target market as the quality matches their expectations and price. We are not willing to produce a product that we would not purchase and thus have made a concerted effort to refine every detail and consider every possible design flaw.
“Acacia” eco hangers
Acacia™ is an eco-friendly company that makes 100% recyclable cardboard hangers in an effort to inspire people to use eco friendly products rather than products made from unsustainable materials.
Acacia™ is driven to make a difference to the environment by educating, inspiring and spreading the word of sustainability. Acacia is about changing the mind-sets of people and provides a platform for young, trendy and design orientated consumers to meet and purchase goods that say something about who they are. These hangers in particular offer a branding and marketing opportunity, whereby an individual brand can brand the hangers in an aim to maximise brand contact points and exposure. Hangers can make a difference too.
“Bamboo Revolution” watches
Born in 2012, Bamboo Revolution is a company committed to_delivering
sustainable and trendy_watches to change the way we view the concept of time!_The time_has come_to make more_sustainable_and environmentally friendly choices in the products we buy, and to be aware of our social responsibility. That is why Bamboo Revolution is committed to making our watches out of natural materials and to uphold our corporate social responsibility by donating funds to Project Rhino KwaZulu-Natal, every time you buy a watch.
Being green is becoming the latest and coolest lifestyle trend! Bamboo Revolution has created a fashionable and functional wrist watch which is environmentally friendly and the trendiest product currently on the market. By using bamboo to make the face of the watch, not only is the product water resistant and resistant to warping, but it is made from a grass that grows naturally and rapidly in the wild. The leather strap is made locally, and supports local producers in the Cape Town region. Bamboo Revolution has also partnered with Project Rhino in KwaZulu-Natal, which supports Rhino anti-poaching efforts in the region.
“Münch” coffee cozies
The münch cup cosy is a fashionable cup sleeve designed to fit around a take-away coffee cup (or any other hot beverage). The cup sleeve is made of cotton material with a layer of insulation and various enhancing features.
The insulation material serves the function of protecting one’s hands from burning while drinking a hot beverage from a plastic, paper or Styrofoam cup. It also serves to keep the content of the cup warmer for longer, and to keep the cup from slipping from one’s hands while drinking.
This product is the first of its kind in South Africa.
The münch cup cosy comes in charming designs and largely functions as a cute accessory for the fashion conscious. With various designs to choose from, it can appeal to all sorts of different personalities from nature lovers, to tourists and the proudly African, and the romantic. The münch cup cosy is a trendy way of enjoying a hot beverage while looking chic and stylish.
münch cup cosy prides itself in being proudly South African, environmentally and socially responsible. The cup sleeves are manufactured in Cape Town by members of a social community outreach programme called Umoja.
Umoja helps provides sustainable income for otherwise unemployed women from local townships through training and employing them for sewing, knitting, and other recreational activities. This product is 100% handcrafted by the ladies of Umoja. The cup cosies are also packaged in locally produced and recycled material.
“Woot” wooden pens
Woot is a newly hatched company o_ering simple, raw product alternatives to the South African market.
At Woot we believe in the wisdom of reducing and reusing nonbiodegradable materials, which is why we have made our pens from a combination of natural materials and recycled plastics.
Cos when you’re good to mama, mama’s good to you…
Woot pens are the perfect low-impact alternative to plastic and metal pens. These wooden pens are tactile and unique.
They are made in Cape Town from:
• locally grown wood
• eco-friendly ink, and
• recycled plastic cartridges.
“CarBin” car waste storage unit
Have you ever thought about what kind of litter accumulates in your car every week? Receipts, plastic bottles, tin cans, food wrapping, pamphlets and brochures. The CarBin not only provides a space to hide and store the litter that accumulates in your car, it also provides the opportunity to play a part in effective waste disposal. We hope that the CarBin encourages drivers throughout South Africa to reduce, reuse and recycle their litter by cleaning up and taking care of both their vehicles and the environment.
CarBin material is leak proof, easy to wash, long-lasting and you canREUSE it over and over again. It is a great storage product for long distance trips, storing car chargers, kids toys... the list is endless.
Every CarBin bought helps another South African learner pass matric. A percentage of our profit goes towards SHAWCO education projects.
“Sweet Potato” laptop sleeves
Sweet Potato tablet and laptop sleeves are funky, durable and planet-friendly. Made from hessian coffee bags from across the world, and vibrant fabric offcuts which would otherwise go to waste, each sleeve is a unique one-of-a-kind piece, designed with passion and style and made by local hands.
“Headway” Tyvek wallets
Headway has a stunning range of designer TVK tyvek wallets.
Tyvek is an eco-friendly, 100% recyclable material that is also stain, tear and water resistant. This means that the wallets are not only sustainable, but they are extremely durable. These wallets are made from a single folded sheet of strong tyvek and require no stitching.
They can also instantly adjust to suit your monetary needs.
These thin wallets have sufficient space consisting of a single note or till slip compartment and 2 slots which can hold 4 cards. For this reason TVK wallets are the perfect going out wallet because they are the epitome of convenience. Their light weight and simplicity for only the necessities makes keeping your wallet on you only a pleasure. You even have the ability to now get your wallet into your skinny jeans’ pocket… they are that awesome!
Our wallets are printed with amazing graphics designed from up and coming Vega graduates. Using the talents of young designers has ensured that every wallet is super trendy, supplying you with eye candy every time you whip your wallet out.
When you purchase your wallet you will also be supplied with two complimentary cards from various businesses, and these may be used at the affiliated stores.
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