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Start-Ups

ENTERTAINMENT group MultiChoice said this week that it had launched the MultiChoice Accelerator to support the growth of 20 South African start-ups in collaboration with C3, Galelo and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.

The accelerator, which forms part of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund, will develop and connect South African small and medium enterprises with global investors to unlock business opportunities at Expo 2020 in Dubai. The Accelerator programme forms part of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund. MultiChoice has partnered with C3 (Companies Creating Change) to facilitate the programme.

C3 is a United Arab Emirates-based social enterprise in 17 countries across the Middle East and Africa. C3’s network of experts and trainers will deliver an intensive investor readiness programme. The finale will be a series of presentations to the global start-up investment community. Each of the start-ups’ journey will be documented for a new docuseries to be shown in November.

Imtiaz Patel, chairperson of MultiChoice, said: “MultiChoice is committed to developing start-ups.”

Staff Reporter

Shopping

RETAIL loyalty programme Pick n Pay Smart Shopper said this week that as the programme marked its 10th anniversary it would offer its customers a share of more than R1 billion in rewards over the next few weeks.

Andrew Mills, a marketing group executive at Pick n Pay, said: “A decade of Pick n Pay Smart Shopper is thanks to our loyal customers. They’ve walked this journey with us and actively participated in its evolution and success. The R1bn and more in savings, prizes and points over the next few weeks is our way of saying thank you to them for choosing Pick n Pay and for helping us make Smart Shopper South Africa’s most loved retail loyalty programme.”

Pick n Pay partners – Discovery Vitality, Standard Bank UCount, Absa Rewards, Momentum Multiply and Vodacom – would be joining the 10th anniversary celebration by offering various promotions, it said.

The programme has more than

8.5 million active members and delivered more than R3.5bn in savings to customers in 2020. Smart Shopper was this month named Most-Used Loyalty Programme in South Africa in the SA Loyalty Landscape White paper, Coolest Loyalty Programme in the Sunday Times Generation Next Awards 2021, and South Africa’s Favourite Retail Loyalty Programme of the Decade in the Sunday Times Top Brands survey. Staff Reporter