Jamie Thurston Wyngaard embodies resilience, innovation, and tenacity - qualities synonymous with the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
Jamie Thurston Wyngaard, commuters and team who work on the mobility-tech platform, Loop.
His mobility-tech platform, Loop, recently won the Best Mobility and Logistics Start-Up in Southern Africa accolade at the Global Startup Awards.
Loop is revolutionising urban transportation in South Africa by digitising the minibus taxi industry. Their innovative Chat-to-Pay system enables seamless, cashless transactions via WhatsApp, enhancing convenience and safety for commuters and drivers.
Wyngaard and his team will travel to Dubai in September for investor engagements, and to Ethiopia in October to attend the African Global Start-Up finals.
It wasn’t always plain sailing. Tragedy struck when Wyngaard’s father passed away as he was finishing high school.
“The financial support dwindled, which compelled me to hustle. I realised that earning money could empower me to make a tangible difference in my life, family, and society,” he said.
Jamie Thurston Wyngaard’s mobility-tech platform, Loop, recently won the Best Mobility and Logistics Start-Up in Southern Africa accolade at the Global Startup Awards.
While studying at UWC and running his own business, Wyngaard worked at the Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics.
He said it fueled his ability to apply scientific thinking to his entrepreneurial journey.
“My experience was profoundly shaped by the Centre for Student Support Services (CSSS), the Entrepreneurship Society, and the Leadership Academy (at UWC), which collectively nurtured my growth and aspirations. Though I did not complete my Biotechnology degree, my time at UWC was transformative. It was there that I evolved into a holistic individual, driven towards entrepreneurship,” he said.
Wyngaard said that he is humbled by this latest accolade. "I am grateful to Loop's partners and the various tech enablers who have supported us. This achievement is not mine alone; their unwavering faith and belief in our mission empower us to strive even further,” he said.
Wyngaard has received numerous entrepreneurship and social responsibility awards, including the United Nations JCI Top Outstanding Young Person Award for Entrepreneurship and Economics in 2023.
He is recognised as University of the Western Cape Student Achiever of the Year 2011 and is the current National Vice-President of the Golden Key International Honour Society.
Networking and being customer-centric was always one of his strengths, proving useful in the success of projects like Feenix.org - a crowdfunding platform aimed at students - which has raised more than R190 Million.
Wyngaard is also engaged in Social Hack, which is a socially driven local business investment accelerator, as well as BowTime, his culinary business famous for its decadent brownies and Instagram-worthy plating styles.
Watch: Jamie talks about the Loop App
Jamie Thurston Wyngaard, commuters and team who work on the mobility-tech platform, Loop.Loop is revolutionising urban transportation in South Africa by digitising the minibus taxi industry. Their innovative Chat-to-Pay system enables seamless, cashless transactions via WhatsApp, enhancing convenience and safety for commuters and drivers.
Wyngaard and his team will travel to Dubai in September for investor engagements, and to Ethiopia in October to attend the African Global Start-Up finals.
It wasn’t always plain sailing. Tragedy struck when Wyngaard’s father passed away as he was finishing high school.
“The financial support dwindled, which compelled me to hustle. I realised that earning money could empower me to make a tangible difference in my life, family, and society,” he said.
Jamie Thurston Wyngaard’s mobility-tech platform, Loop, recently won the Best Mobility and Logistics Start-Up in Southern Africa accolade at the Global Startup Awards.He said it fueled his ability to apply scientific thinking to his entrepreneurial journey.
“My experience was profoundly shaped by the Centre for Student Support Services (CSSS), the Entrepreneurship Society, and the Leadership Academy (at UWC), which collectively nurtured my growth and aspirations. Though I did not complete my Biotechnology degree, my time at UWC was transformative. It was there that I evolved into a holistic individual, driven towards entrepreneurship,” he said.
Wyngaard said that he is humbled by this latest accolade. "I am grateful to Loop's partners and the various tech enablers who have supported us. This achievement is not mine alone; their unwavering faith and belief in our mission empower us to strive even further,” he said.
Wyngaard has received numerous entrepreneurship and social responsibility awards, including the United Nations JCI Top Outstanding Young Person Award for Entrepreneurship and Economics in 2023.
He is recognised as University of the Western Cape Student Achiever of the Year 2011 and is the current National Vice-President of the Golden Key International Honour Society.
Networking and being customer-centric was always one of his strengths, proving useful in the success of projects like Feenix.org - a crowdfunding platform aimed at students - which has raised more than R190 Million.
Wyngaard is also engaged in Social Hack, which is a socially driven local business investment accelerator, as well as BowTime, his culinary business famous for its decadent brownies and Instagram-worthy plating styles.
Watch: Jamie talks about the Loop App
