Declined 11 times, this 27-year-old now owns a company that uses artificial intelligence to predict and detect vehicle breakdowns

[ad_1]

Rivo Mhlari is the founder of Rikatec, an information management system that uses big data and artificial intelligence to predict and detect vehicle breakdowns, monitor vehicles, help determine insurance and warranty premiums, among others .

The idea of ​​starting Rikatec came to Mhlari, nicknamed “a guru of technology and innovation”, when he was in his freshman year at university and finally started the business when he was 23.

Mhlari, a native of South African Limpopo Provence, is a graduate of the University of Cape Town with honors in economics, specializing in finance and accounting.

Now 27, his invention earned him an enviable article on the Forbes Africas 30-under-30 and Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans lists just four years after he performed his vision.

Behind Mhlaris’ entrepreneurial success is the entrepreneurial spirit. He was reportedly turned down 11 times by manufacturers and insurance companies when he offered them Rikatec, but the refusals were his motivation, he told Forbes Africa.

I realized that we were rejected not because what we were doing was not new or attractive; we were rejected because they thought what Rikatec wanted to do was impossible. We were simply ahead of our time, he said.

Mhlari founded a marketing consultancy firm and hosted several corporate strategy events. It was from these events that he raised funds to finance the development of Rikatec prototypes. He also highlighted the challenges startup founders like him face when it comes to funding. His defense earned him an investment of $ 40,000 to commercially test the product in exchange for 5% equity in the company. Today Rikatec provides solutions to car manufacturers and insurance companies.

Rikatec uses data and artificial intelligence to provide predictive vehicle maintenance, monitor vehicles, assist in determining insurance and warranty premiums, increase the resale value of motor vehicles, among others.

The young South African told Mail and Guardian that he finds entrepreneurship liberating and allows him to make a significant impact not only in South Africa but globally as well.

Both economically and socially, I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to make impact change in my country and continent, through innovation, job creation and socio-economic improvement. I became an entrepreneur because I didn’t want to be trapped in a certain career; I wanted to make a difference by being ambitious and innovative, he said.

Furthermore, Mhlari wants young Africans to be part of the technological revolution and not just adapt to the rest of the world.

I believe that this is the direction the world is going and that young people in Africa need to be part of it so that Africa can grow as an innovative continent and not just adapt to the rest of the world.

[ad_2]