Protea Machine Tools

Website: proteamachinetools.com

Description

Protea Machine Tools was formed to commercialise Dr Lukas du Plessis’ patented “Hybrid Five-Axis Machine Tool”. Dr Du Plessis’ hybrid machine tool works on five axes to allow users to shape, cut, grind, shear, and otherwise form metals and hard materials with great precision and speed. Protea Machine Tools was founded by Lukas, a lecturer at the University of Pretoria, and Conrad Mahuma, an after-sales specialist contracting for Zeiss South Africa and Germany.

Du Plessis was one of two South African Entrepreneurs that were among the 16 shortlisted candidates for the Royal Academy of Engineering Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation 2018. The startup is currently raising funding as a means for building their beta prototype and refining their business model.