Gert-Jan van Rooyen is developing a start-up culture for students at the Stellenbosch Electronic Media Lab that is far from the drab classrooms of most public institutions. Van Rooyen, who launched the lab in January 2008, believes that South Africa can compete with the world’s best when it comes to innovation.

“South Africa has some exceptionally clever people and we have a tremendous capacity to innovate,” he says. “We started the lab because we believed that the technology handicap in South Africa was putting good South Africans at a disadvantage. The Media Lab was about focusing on tech innovation and bringing young South Africans up to speed with the rest of the world.”