Immersive Authority entered The Innovation Hub Management Company’s (TIHMC) GAP ICT 2016 competition which opened on 11 April 2016. With 3 prototypes already completed, Immersive Authority submitted the initial competition application form with more than 200 applicants before the closing date on 9 June 2016.
Immersive Authority was selected as one of the top 15 semi-finalists on 23 June 2016. From 24-26 June 2016 Immersive Authority was invited to a hackathon at TIHMC where an opportunity to develop the innovative concept with the assistance of other developers and makers was made available. This was the first time that one of Immersive Authority’s prototypes (the HoloDome) was showcased publicly.
This gentleman is a semi-finalist for @InnovHub #GAPIct challenge. He created a dome to replace VR gear #GKHack16 pic.twitter.com/BuPmHmR6ls
— Geekulcha (@Geekulcha) June 26, 2016
Semi-finalists were invited to participate in a week long training program from 25-29 July 2016 to learn about developing a viable business plan, and to craft the perfect pitch.
Another prototype (the HoloPort) was publicly showcased at the Faku’Gesi African Digital Innovation Festival linked to a Smart City program from 19-20 August 2016 (Immersive Authority’s first commercial gig) where valuable feedback was obtained.
Well done @zaidmo on the demo of the #immersiveauthority communal VR solution #AfroTechRiot. pic.twitter.com/bUoHkDJx8u
— Mahmood (@mahmoodsonday) August 19, 2016
Detailed Business Plans then had to be submitted by 1 September 2016. On 26 September 2016 Immersive Authority was advised that it had been chosen as one of the eight finalists.
Finalists had to pitch to a judging panel (of internal and external stakeholders) on 3 November 2016. Finalists then met again on 15 November 2016 for a photo shoot with an external studio.
All of these milestones led to the evening of suspense on 17 November 2016 when the winners would be announced at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg.
Immersive Authority is pleased to have won the 2nd prize which includes R20 000 cash, R110 000 seed funding, incubation services from Maxum Business Incubator and mLab
Here is a video showcasing all the GAP ICT finalists and the announcement of the prizes:
Zaid Mahomedy, the founder of Immersive Authority is stoked by this opportunity to get his Mixed Reality solutions (the HoloPort and HoloDome) to market soon with the support from TIHMC , its partners and other organisations that Zaid continues to reach out to (particularly for hardware design and integration expertise).
TIHMC is a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) which is an agency of Gauteng Provincial Government’s Department of Economic Development (GDED) in South Africa.
Well done on the achievement — whoop whoop!