South Africa-based telecommunications company Telkom, has launched a R100m ($8.3m) programme called FutureMakers that will provide funding, business development and telecoms services to small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs), IT News Africa has reported.
FutureMakers comprises four segments: FutureFund, through which it will invest the R100m in the form of working capital, loans and equity; FutureHub, which will act as an incubator programme; FutureSource, which will provide support to local partners; and FutureProof, which will involve seeking out strategic partners.
Telkom has also formed a three-year, multi-million rand partnership with Bandwidth Barn, an incubator subsidiary of non-profit tech cluster Cape Innovation and Technology (CiTi), according to Ventureburn.
The partnership will seek to source market intelligence that can inform and support the development of business ideas into seed-stage businesses, and establish an accelerator for software, mobile app and games development entrepreneurs called InnoTech.
Telkom and Bandwidth Barn also plan to put in place an initiative called Acceleration Support Programme that will help support the development, production and deployment of black-owned SMMEs.