Meet Apiwe Hotele. Apiwe is one of Propella’s Stage 4 ICT incubatees, and is the founder of Enlighten-Edu, a progress tracking and diagnostic software for learners.
This platform is a one-stop-shop for learning. Enlighten-Edu allows learners to have an online classroom feel, complete homework and uses analytics to provide extensive reporting on learners’ progress and challenges within the syllabus.
The platform uses gamification to award and encourage learners, records and stores data to inform and create opportunities for learners along their education journey. The idea for this initiative came about when Apiwe did not have permanent Maths and Physical Science teachers from Grade 10-12, due to a constant rotation of temporary teachers.
Through the assistance of a retired teacher, Apiwe was able to get the help she needed to get through her preliminary and final exams.
The challenges she experienced during that time planted the seed, which eventually grew into the idea for Enlighten in 2016 and got the company registered in 2018.
“I was very young when I started working on Enlighten, I did not have much experience, I made a lot of mistakes that cost me a lot of money and time”, says Hotele, explaining the challenges she went through with getting her business up and running
“ I honestly think being accepted to the Propella incubation program is the highlight for this year and possibly the highlight for Enlighten-edu. I have learnt a lot in a few months, the program embeds a process for starting and executing businesses in Tech. I learnt a lot about my customers and how to communicate with them. The program invests a lot of time in ensuring that the entrepreneur knows their strengths and weaknesses which is key for any entrepreneur.”
It turns out that the ICT Programme was one big step for Apiwe, and an even bigger leap for Enlighten. Apiwe seems to have been making waves amongst her peers and has gained recognition as a leader, so much so that she was nominated for an Accenture Rising Star Award by a previous winner. And true to form, she brought home the prize and won the award in the ICT category.
“The whole experience forced me to think about the kind of a leader I want to be and how I will ensure that ICT products are accessible to everyone regardless of age,race,gender, sex or backgroud. Winning the award assured me that I am in the right direction, it feels like someone whispering in my ear saying “I see you’ve been walking, now you can run and I intend to run.”
Earlier this year, Apiwe also walked away with a NYDA Trailblazer award, proving that she really is in the business of changing lives in the tech space. Propella would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Apiwe and Enlighten-Edu. We are proud to be a host to her growing influence in the Women in Tech space, we are also proud of the work that she’s doing in joining the initiative of giving learners around the country equal opportunity to learn and also become our nation’s future makers
Congratulations, Apiwe. Here’s to bigger and better things!