DUT Student Thokozani Buthelezi Heads to Guangzhou Finals

A Durban University of Technology student will fly to China in October 2026 to compete in the eighth Alliance of Guangzhou International Sister-City Universities (GISU) Urban Entrepreneurship and Innovation Finals Competition. The stakes are real: DUT took home two awards in this contest last year.

Thokozani Buthelezi, founder of Myco-Feeds, will represent the institution in the Start-Up Teams category. His enterprise converts agricultural waste into oyster and button mushrooms. He incubates at the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Guangzhou University will host the finals on Thursday, 22 October, and Friday, 23 October, 2026. The event runs both in person and online via Zoom, from 09:00 to 16:50 Beijing time.

Who is Buthelezi up against?

The Start-Up Teams field draws entrants from several institutions. The named competitors include:

• Stellenbosch University
• Guangzhou University
• Guangzhou Medical University
• UWE Bristol
• Al Akhawayn University

That lineup puts a mushroom-growing student venture from Durban on the same stage as teams from three continents.

What happened last time?

DUT has recent form in this competition. The university hosted the seventh edition in October 2025 — the first time the event took place in Africa.

Two DUT student entrepreneurs earned accolades in the Start-Up Teams category at that edition. Tiffany Mokoteli, founder of Tiffany Mokoteli Enterprise, won a Silver Award. Hlengiwe Ngubane, founder of Project X, received a Bronze Award.

Buthelezi now carries the job of building on that record.

Why does DUT treat this as strategic?

Nontokozo Ngcobo, Manager of the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, framed the competition as more than a medal chase. Global platforms such as the GISU contest strengthen the university's international profile and showcase its entrepreneurial capabilities, she said.

"It validates what DUT stands for, which is being recognised as one of the leading universities when it comes to entrepreneurship and innovation, especially the universities of technology," Ngcobo said.

She added that participation also supports DUT's ambition to strengthen its entrepreneurial culture while exposing students to international best practices. That aligns with the university's ENVISION2030 strategy and its commitment to producing adaptive graduates.

For the students themselves, the draw is narrower. "The unique opportunity this competition offers to our students is collaboration with students from other countries," Ngcobo said.

What does Myco-Feeds actually do?

Buthelezi's venture sits at the intersection of waste and food production. Myco-Feeds takes agricultural waste — material that would otherwise be discarded — and converts it into two cultivated crops: oyster mushrooms and button mushrooms.

It's a model that turns a disposal problem into a saleable product. That circular-economy pitch is what Buthelezi will present against five-plus university teams in Guangzhou this October.

What's next?

The finals on 22–23 October 2026 will show whether DUT can convert last year's Silver and Bronze into another podium finish — and whether a waste-to-mushroom startup from an African university of technology can outpitch teams from Bristol to Guangzhou.