Innovative entrepreneurs celebrated at 2024 South African Future Trust Awards

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The South African Future Trust (SAFT) Awards are a launchpad for innovative ideas, offer recognition for the tough entrepreneurial grind and celebrate the power of entrepreneurship to change lives in South Africa’s challenging economy.

Each winner’s prize consists of a cash injection of R250,000 and an individually tailored support package of R250,000.

The founders of proactive healthcare platform Engage Mx were the winners in the Tech Entrepreneur category. Engage Mx is a platform that recalls patients to their doctor for screening and chronic disease management based on their unique health profile. The platform’s co-founders are Dr Benji Ozynski, Dr Brad Segal, Kyle Le Bron, Mayur Ambelal and Ryan Swartzberg.

Sustainable branding innovators Tshepiso Branding Solutions, co-founded by Sarah Motshwane Sebetola, picked up the Women in Business category win, which was presented in partnership with Standard Bank. Founded in 2018, Tshepiso Branding Solutions is on a mission to empower organisations to embrace ESG goals through the conscientious selection of sustainable branding solutions.

RLabs, founded by Marlon Parker with Christine Taphel (CEO), Rene Parker (director) and Craig Du Mont (director of RLabs Group), won the Social Entrepreneur category. RLabs is a pioneering South African social enterprise focused on empowering communities through innovative technology solutions and skills training.

The Youth Entrepreneur category was won by the online entry-level job search platform Jobjack, co-founded by Heine Bellingan and Christiaan van den Berg. Jobjack is on a mission to employ the world by making job searching more accessible and efficient.

Bento Technologies - winners in the Most Innovative Idea category - gives employers an easy and digital solution to offer cost-effective modern employee benefits to their employees. The benefits offered can be personalised to suit the company’s culture and brand, and the employer decides whether, and how much to contribute towards certain benefits.

The winner in the Best Implementation of 2023 SAFT Summit Playbook category was a specialist furniture manufacturer for the restaurant and hospitality industries, Woodlam. Woodlam specialises in manufacturing high-quality, moulded plywood products.