Santam looking for ‘best and brightest’ solutions to SA’s safety issues

Donald Kau, head, Corporate Communications at Santam.

Mokaedi Dilotsotlhe, Santam Executive Head of Brand; Nontombi Marule, DTI; Donald Kau, Santam Head of Corporate Affairs.

Nontombi Marule, Department of Trade and Industry Director of Innovation and Technology.

Imagine street lights that switch on when something moves. Or a fire hydrant that warns the municipality when it’s faulty. Or a truck strap that alerts the driver when a load is loose. These seemingly simple ideas have the power to keep us all safer. Short-term insurer Santam is inviting all South Africans to submit their best and brightest safety ideas, with the aim of turning them into one-of-a-kind safety solutions.

“Santam wants to help ordinary South Africans to turn their safety ideas into a reality, to the benefit of the greater community,” says Donald Kau, head: Corporate Communications at Santam. “With this programme, we are celebrating the resolve and spirit of innovation that is inherent in our country and our people. We are creating a platform for improving people’s lives and protecting their livelihood, one idea at a time.”

Commenting at the launch of this programme, Ms Nontombi Marule, Director: Innovation and Technology at the Department of Trade and Industry said, “The Department of Trade and Industry is not only in support of this initiative but excited in that it is perfectly aligned with the thinking within the Dti. The ongoing development of the National Technology Strategy is geared to ensure that ideas and technology developed in South Africa become a source for economic development for the generators of these ideas.”

We call on the South African public to submit their ideas, all are welcome, from small and simple to more elaborate solutions, as long as they relate to home, vehicle or personal safety. The winning concepts will go through an incubation process valued at R150 000 facilitated by our partner LaunchLab, and will be developed into prototypes – and further stand the chance of being turned into viable businesses.

How does it work?

• Entrants can submit a short video entry online at www.santam.co.za/safetyideas (cell phone footage is perfect) before 23 September 2016, explaining their idea.
• A series of workshops will be held during the month of August where entrants will be able to put questions forward and clarify entry requirements before submitting. These workshops will be held in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Entrants can register online to participate in a workshop.
• Pitching platforms will be set up at participating university campuses throughout South Africa during September where entrants will pitch their ideas. Entrants must register online to secure a suitable time slot.
• Between 15 and 20 finalists will be chosen based on originality, applicability, market attractiveness, and estimated length of time to take the product to market.
• A panel of experts will select the 10 best concepts which will receive seed funding to cover mentorship and incubation space in the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab.
• Prototypes and high-level business plans will be developed for the 10 best concepts during an intensive 14-week LaunchLab Knowledge Acceleration Programme™.
• After a 4- to 6-month Countdown Programme™ run by LaunchLab, in which extensive mentoring and coaching will take place, three final business plans will be presented to a panel of Santam and Sanlam investors.

Says Kau: “This programme underlines Santam’s commitment to keeping South Africans safe while providing insurance good and proper. We are not only there for our clients when something goes wrong, we are also committed to helping prevent things from going wrong in the first place.”