Date: 19/05/2004

By: Chris van Gass, Cape Correspondent

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Mark Shuttleworth`s foundation called yesterday on local businesses looking to spend their social investment budgets to cast their eyes on its second "innovation bazaar".

The final selection for the bazaar — a platform for funders to interact with a select group of vetted and relevant projects seeking funding — would be held in Johannesburg and Cape Town next week.

At the bazaar, funders act as "buyers", browsing through the stalls of 30 selected projects.

The projects are picked through a set of criteria — which include an education-related focus on maths, science, technology as well. as schools with entrepreneurship training.

In addition to vetting the projects, the foundation also compiles an organisational assessment report of the capacity of each project and assists in meeting the projects` needs.

"Our goal is to make the projects as viable and attractive to potential hinders as possible," said Kim Vosse, internal projects manager of the Shuttleworth Foundation. "Projects showcased for funding at the bazaar are implementation-ready."