Winners of the 10th Annual SAB Foundation Social Innovation & Disability Empowerment awards

SAB foundation has announced its 17th finalist participating in the tenth annual Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards.

The top position went to Meat Naturally and Agricool Finance which both earned US$88,400 in grant funding. The social innovation awards target entrepreneurs, innovators, and institutions at the prototype state or early-stage businesses that solve social problems through sustainable business models.

• Meat Naturally -a social enterprise based in Mpumalanga – that supports communal farmers create sustainable farming models while giving market access to red meat producers.
• Agricool Finance – a digital crowdfunding platform based in Kwa-Zulu Natal – that creates financial inclusion for smallholder farmers with market and finance linkages.
• Invisio Al – founded by Kathryn Malherbe – relies on machine learning to identify, segment, and predict different types of breast cancer through ultrasound imaging and algorithms.

Winners of the Disability Empowerment Awards

The Disability Empowerment Awards promoted social innovations that improve the quality of life for people that are disabled through assistive devices, training, and employment. Leafline Washable Sanitary Wear was awarded R1.3m.

3 other businesses were received development funding worth R500,000. The businesses are:

• Sipokuhle Community Development by Sithembele Dlutu.
• Digital Interactive Educational Books by the National Institute for the Deaf.
• Virecom a remote communications company founded by Jabu Blose.

Over the past 8 years, the SAB Foundation has invested R80 million in the support of 170 talented South African innovators.

Director Bridget Evans at the SAB Foundation shared on enca how last years businesses had to innovate to get through the Covid-19 pandemic. SAB mainly focuses on women, youth, people in the rural areas, and people with disabilities. They prioritized social innovators as their ideas can be scaled while solving society’s problems sustainably.

A total of R12.6-million was awarded to entrepreneurs by the SAB Foundation last night. Some of the 17 innovators walked away with more than a million rand to invest in their businesses. SAB Foundation director, Bridgit Evans spoke to Tumelo Mothotoane. #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/MfChYw7CSa

— eNCA (@eNCA) February 10, 2021