Another round of UTF grants provides innovation opportunities for Wits
- Wits University
Wits University is set to benefit from the second instalment of the University Technology Fund (UTF), meaning more innovation is on its way.
The UTF, a venture capital fund seeded by the South African SME Fund and managed by Stocks & Strauss, works to commercialise university technology, research and intellectual property (IP). The University of the Witwatersrand will now be investing in the next phase of this fund, which benefits universities around the country. Wits’ innovation ecosystem has already greatly contributed to the country’s innovations by turning creative and unique ideas into marketable solutions.
The UTF has raised a new fund of over R250m to invest in local innovation. Wits has led the charge from universities outside of the Western Cape to come on board with UTF 2.0. This type of fund can uplift the venture ecosystem of universities by creating jobs, opportunities, and solving societal problems.
Wits will continue to have access to pitch to the UTF for its promising innovations and startups, likely leading to a variety of interesting and unique innovations. Additionally, Wits will now be involved in the new UTF ‘alumni fund’, the university can benefit financially from innovations by the university’s illustrious alumni network.
Dr Adam Pantanowitz, Senior Advisor in Innovation and former Chair in Innovation, believes that access to funding can bootstrap the entire ecosystem. “Greater awareness of opportunity, and simply the knowledge that it is possible, can help innovators create change through their ideas,” he says. “Mindset is everything for innovation, and links to funders like the UTF create the rocket fuel we need for success”.
Adam Pantanowitz led the charge for Wits to subscribe to the UTF, and worked with Mandy-Lee Pietersen, who will continue providing crucial input in her role as Seed Fund Manager within the Wits Innovation Centre.
The first round of funding benefited Wits’ innovation ecosystem previously, by Button Optics receiving R1,4 million. The company creates solutions based on innovations using the latest cutting-edge physics in structured light. Their first products are comprehensive generation and diagnostic devices, which can create or evaluate structured light. The technologies stem from innovative research by Professor Andrew Forbes and his team at the Structured Light Lab at Wits University.
For instance, their product has immediate use in testing and validation of lasers, optical components and materials, with target markets including laser manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and ophthalmology.
Forbes says, “We are excited that we will soon be able to take this to market. Our plan is to initially sell into the photonics market - selling photonics technology to photonics people - but the much larger market is to sell on as an enabler to non-photonics people.”
One example is an all-digital solution in ophthalmology, where the structured light is unwanted aberrations of the eye. “Button Optics has pioneered the exploration and exploitation of all of light’s degrees of freedom, beyond the textbook examples,” Forbes says.
“We are proud to be bolstering and enhancing the innovation ecosystem at South African universities, including our own,” says Professor Lynn Morris, DVC of Research and Innovation. “There is so much untapped potential within our universities and it's exciting to offer these opportunities to translate research into innovative solutions for the broader market”
UTF 2.0 will likely bring more investment into the Wits ecosystem and to other universities. Pantanowitz is confident this will lead to greater activity in the country’s innovation ecosystem.
There are exciting possibilities in the making, according to Letlotlo Phohole, Director of the Wits Innovation Centre. “We are seeing a number of opportunities in the pipeline via our Innovation Support team that are reaching advanced innovation readiness levels. In Energy, Health, Science, Manufacturing, and Environment, innovations such as DC microgrids, bio-ethanol blending, biomedical implants, molecular and optical diagnostic tools, and environmental filtration systems are progressing toward real-world deployment, with strong potential to impact society.”
Pantanowitz adds, “We are hoping that with greater access to funding, more of our incredible innovators will be able to turn their visions into reality. The ecosystem is maturing, and we are incredibly excited to lead the way by investing in it in the hope it’ll bolster solutions to South African problems.”