Stellenbosch University's LaunchLab was honoured on Wednesday, 6 November, to be recognised as the top university incubator in Africa for 2019/20 by UBI Global, the Stockholm-based intelligence company and community, known for high-quality intelligence, assessment, and mapping of business incubation.
UBI Global released the top lists of business incubators and accelerators as assessed in the World Benchmark Study 2019 -2020 at the World Incubation Summit 2019 in Doha, Qatar. This year's event was hosted by Qatar Development Bank.
To be awarded this accolade, as assessed by UBI Global, Stellenbosch University and Nedbank LaunchLab has demonstrated exceptional achievement in value for client start-ups, value for the local ecosystem, and overall attractiveness for a program as a whole.
“Following a rigorous data-driven approach, we assessed and benchmarked incubation programs across the world," says Holger Meyer, Director of Research at UBI Global. “Our World Benchmark Study 2019 - 2020 is in tune with the multiple facets of the international incubation ecosystem and illustrates key challenges and opportunities faced by the participating programs."
Brandon Paschal, Interim CEO at LaunchLab says: “Putting a startup incubator under the most prolific technology transfer office in South Africa (Innovus) has really set us up for success. There is incredible innovation constantly coming out of Stellenbosch University that we get to work with. Add to that the incredible entrepreneurs that we get to work with, it's a perfect recipe for an impactful incubator. We're very proud to receive this recognition for the second time, and hopefully the next benchmark phase we can be the first African university incubator to feature on the global rankings."
This year, 364 programs located in 78 countries were selected after assessing and validating the data received from programs seeking knowledge about themselves through the study.
For full rankings please visit: ubi-global.com/rankings
“LaunchLab is honoured to receive this award again having been named top challenger in Africa for 2017/2018. Africa has the talent and drive to bring economic growth and social change to our continent; to create the future. The incredible entrepreneurs that we have the privilege to serve everyday are creators of world class innovation and the reason that we are able to achieve this global recognition," says Pascal