Stellenbosch University (SU) and the university-industry interaction and innovation company Innovus celebrated four new spinout companies on Wednesday afternoon (07 November 2018). The newly formed companies, Geosmart Space, Cubespace, Sein Media and Sharksafe Barrier will form part of the university's Group of Companies.
At the event, the four-spinout companies each gave a 10-minute presentation regarding the establishment of their company as well as displaying their products. The companies also signed their shareholder agreements and placed their company certificates on the celebrated Innovus Group of Companies Wall.
Prof Stan du Plessis, Chief Operating Officer at SU said that these spinout companies are an example of where the research spectrum of the university meets society in the creation of a close collaboration. “It is no small matter to create four companies. Stellenbosch University is incredibly proud of our association with these four new companies and especially also grateful to our colleagues at Innovus who have helped the companies to get to this point."
Geosmart makes use of advanced space and geospatial technologies (such as earth observation and machine learning) to model future scenarios. Sein Media offers prime film scoring and music recording services; CubeSpace designs, builds, tests and supports innovative, high quality, miniaturized satellite components; and, Sharksafe Barrier is an eco-friendly technology that combines magnetic and visual stimuli to deter Shark species considered dangerous to humans.
Since 2014, Innovus has helped over 100 spinout companies in South Africa. The companies' employ 270 people and have made a combined turnover of R226 million last year. According to Anita Nel, CEO of Innovus and Chief Director: Innovation and Business Development at SU, she feels immensely proud of Innovus' contribution to the economy, but what is more important to her is that they are creating an industry right next to the university.
“It is wonderful for us to come to work every day and feel so incredibly proud of what we do. I feel proud to see how a student has grown into a CEO; how someone who is a great academic is also achieving some other aspects of self-fulfilment through commercialisation of their products. Innovus use as a slogan the words, “Basic innovation matter", but what matters most to us is the entrepreneurs that we work with, the incredible innovations that we are privileged to work with on a daily basis. We are also proud of the impact our companies make," says Nel.
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MORE ABOUT THE FOUR COMPANIES
Geosmart Space (Pty) Ltd
Bringing space down to earth
Predicting the future is a powerful ability. Most things (e.g. people, resources, phenomena) can be related to a position on (or above) the Earth's surface. By knowing these positions and by monitoring how they change and behave over time, predictions can be made about how they will change and behave in the future. Geosmart makes use of advanced space and geospatial technologies (such as earth observation and machine learning) to model future scenarios and provide information that can improve efficiencies, reduce risk, and inform better decisions.
Sein Media (Pty) Ltd
Film Scoring & Music Recording @ Stellenbosch University
Sein offers prime film scoring and music recording services in the heart of the winelands at Stellenbosch University. Our creative processes are underpinned by an ethos of excellence, while our agile, data-driven methodologies allow us to deliver the highest quality productions with a fast turnaround, at a fraction of the cost of traditional approaches. At Sein, we maintain our position at the forefront of industry developments through our close proximity to Stellenbosch University's research and education activities.
CubeSpace (Pty) Ltd
Pioneering your mission with our passion
The passion that initially turns ideas into action defines the culture of a company. We at CubeSpace try to make our passion for innovation, space and control systems an integral part of everything we do. We design, build, test and support innovative, high quality, miniaturized satellite components, with a strong focus on control systems.
Cubespace envision ourselves as partners, not suppliers and pride ourselves on superior craftsmanship, flexibility and adaptability with our offerings and our good customer support. We believe we are contributing to an industry that opens the door to space for all young engineers and scientists and we aim to do this by providing user-friendly, robust and intuitive products that can be trusted.
In the process, we strive to contribute significantly to the technological advancement of mankind. Our key partners, who have formed a fundamental part of our roots, are Stellenbosch University (SU), Innovus and the LaunchLab. Part of our mission is to give back to SU by stimulating the industry in South Africa and by providing job opportunities for young engineers in a high-technology environment like the satellite industry.
Sharksafe Barriers (Pty) Ltd
SharkSafe Barrier - Protect Your Coast Line
Sharksafe Barrier is an eco-friendly technology that combines magnetic and visual stimuli to deter Shark species considered dangerous to humans. The technology aims at keeping people safe from sharks while simultaneously protecting the sharks. “The SharkSafe BarrierTM is a product that has been developed to ensure the safety of beachgoers from shark attacks, to prevent the loss of tourism revenue following these traumatic events and to stop the environmental damage caused by some of the protection measures currently used"
Photo by Stefan Els.
