Go.Explore Is Officially The Next Disruptor!
After a weeklong roadshow that included disruptive innovation workshops and pitching boot camps across the University of Cape Town, University of Western Cape and Stellenbosch University, the Disruption 48 finale saw enthusiastic ideas and budding talents participate in the event.
“Disruption 48 is always keen to work with all universities allowing all students to interact on a platform i.e. experiential and creative and outside of the university specific barriers,” said Charleen Duncan, Director, UWC Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Participants and our partners collectively took the competition to newer heights. A total of 580 applications were received for the boot camp out of which 15 reached the semifinal stage. Most of the ideas received from the partner universities were around disruptive innovation and social impact. The 2-day event which concluded on February 17th was hosted at the MEST incubator and was witnessed by more than 70 changemakers. The final round had a total of 6 participants – 4 from UCT and one each from UWC and Stellenbosch.
The concept of disruptive innovation challenges Ideapreneurs to embark on a startup journey that focusses on creating value for the bottom of the pyramid market while making a steady profit. Thus, it has been deemed as an effective tool to solve 21st-century problems for a majority of emerging markets around the globe through entrepreneurial intervention.
“I am utterly impressed by the quality of the elevator pitches and the energy of these young entrepreneurs at Disruption48. South Africa is in good hands”- Carrie Leaver, Director, Stoep Startup.
The winner of Disruption 48 was Go.Explore, presented by Josh Fillmore, a student at the University of Cape Town. The idea revolves around creating a platform where people travel and explore new places with a purpose. The vision of Go.Explore is to eventually create a social platform where travellers with a common purpose can meet and explore a new destination together.
“I found Disruption48 to be an innovative way of bringing together budding entrepreneurs from around the province. It was an absolute honour to win the event and be crowned The Next Disruptor. It has really shifted my mindset and provoked a new wave of energy and enthusiasm towards ensuring this startup’s success. I’m inspired to make 2018 a big year for Go.Explore” exclaimed Josh on securing the first spot.
Josh conceptualized the idea for Go.Explore back in 2017 when he was reflecting on the booming tourism industry of Cape Town. Unable to see a real differentiation between the offering of major tour operators, he lay the foundation of a truly disruptive idea – Go.Explore. He plans to make trips to new destinations more meaningful for the traveller. Being an avid traveller himself he wanted to connect with like-minded fellows on these trips, hence he made this platform social. The next steps occurred almost naturally to him and he went on building upon his idea. In the near future, he wants to build his MVP and have subscribers for real experience sharing while also looking for investments to strengthen his product.
The dream just not stops here, he wants to take Go.Explore to a mobile platform where everything one needs as a traveller will be on one application. Experience criteria, recommendations, information, reviews, safety ratings, radius, price range, transport, weather suitability, high-quality videos, photos and millions of like-minded individuals will all be found in one place. In his free time, he likes to be with nature and trying a new sport. He believes in developing mental and physical strength daily as it brings about a transformation in his quality of thoughts.
As part of the rewards won for his idea Go.Explore, Josh secures a seat in Startup Safari, a global immersion program. Moreover, he gets 3 months coworking space at MEST along with a cash prize.
AirStudents grabbed the first runner-up position for their attempt to solve expensive travel needs of students. With their exclusive focus on the student community, they want to solve the problem through group bookings and affordable extra luggage option. Ndabenhle Ntshangase, who is also a student at UCT added: “Disruption 48 shows you that it’s not about finding an idea that will take you to the top, it’s about finding an idea that will move where the top is.”
For his idea, Ndabenhle receives a cash prize, coworking hours at MEST and internship opportunity with our partners.
The second runner-up at the event was Guardian Gabriel, which is a safety device and alerts the local cops in case of emergency. This comes as a really thoughtful product looking at the cases of increase in missing persons both locally and globally. Xabiso Lombo, a student at UCT had won the first position for her idea at FSAT labs challenge – Africarena International Tech conference 2017. She gets coworking hours at Stoep Startup coworking and a cash prize.
“It means that through hard work, dedication and focus one can achieve whatever they put their minds to. I may not have won first place but I know something that I didn’t know before and every opportunity is a learning curve.To be amongst the top means that I am well on my way to create a positive impact” adds Xabiso.
L to R: Josh Fillmore, Xabiso Lombo and Ndabenhle Ntshangase
The ideas pitched at Disruption 48 were realistic and had a clear purpose behind each of them. The panel & jury members comprising of Victoria Jackson (MEST), Matthew Henshall (Skillup tutors), Tumi Menyatswe (Silicon Cape) and Antoinette Prophy (88Business Collective) had great insights to add to the event and were enthralled by the Ideapreneurs. A special mention to our partners here who made the event a great success here.
