Dell EMC has reinvigorated its Dell Development Fund initiative, looking to partner with additional innovative South African start-ups.
This was revealed by the company's executives this week during an interview with ITWeb. The Dell Development Fund was founded based on Dell EMC's belief that, by improving social conditions, it can improve business conditions in the country.
The renewed approach comes five quarters after the historic merger between Dell and EMC. The parent company, Dell Technologies, started operating in September 2016, creating the world's largest private technology firm.
Aongus Hegarty, Dell EMC's president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, noted that last year, it spent $4 billion on innovations, research and development, and is looking to do the same this year with South African start-ups in mind.
"We are training and building the skills of the future," said Hegarty. "However, we also need to attract new talent into the organisation. We are focusing on South Africa to hire, for example, from schools, colleges, and universities. The idea is to bring in younger people with new ideas and creativity, especially those with STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] subjects.
"It's about growing the skills needed by our business and attracting new talent to complement that. Wherever we are in the world, we want to be deep-rooted into the community. Our organisation wants to have the opportunity to give back their knowledge and share it with the broader community. Sometimes this can be in volunteering, education, business, etc."
He noted that by working with entrepreneurs, they get skills around risk-taking, entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity, among others.
"That allows our team members to hone their skills. At the end of the day, start-ups will create a strong South African economy which will result in Dell EMC getting more business," Hegarty said.
Also speaking during the interview, Doug Woolley, country manager for Dell EMC SA, said with the Dell Development Fund, the organisation has an intake of about 24 learners every year who have completed their graduation studies.
"We take them on a two-year journey where we teach them a number of specific skill sets. However, we can't take all those skill sets within Dell EMC, so we create skills for our partners."
According to Woolley, last year, the company was successful in placing all the 24 learners with either Dell EMC internally or partners externally. It is looking to do the same this year.
"We are also driving a graduate and training programme where on a consistent basis, we give six or seven full bursaries touching on a number of skill sets. The more skills we can create for our industry as a whole, the more success we have in solving skills problems in SA."
On top of partnering with South African start-ups, Dell EMC is also starting them, said Woolley. "Last year, three of the graduates started their own small start-up companies. As part of the internship programme with Dell EMC, we gave them seed capital after they came up with business ideas. One of them created a new application to solve student accommodation issues, the other one is involved in stock brokerage, while the third is into business intelligence."
The multinational corporation is looking to inspire like-minded start-ups this year and help by connecting them to venture capitalists.
It could not divulge how much it has budgeted for the initiative this year.
Mohammed Amin, Dell EMC's senior VP for Middle East, Turkey and Africa, commented that the company is encouraged by SA's economic and political stability.
"We are witnessing stability in the South African market with investments coming back into the country. I am very optimistic about the future because I see a lot of potential going forward in the public sector," said Amin.
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