Eskom Expo for Young Scientists

Name

Eskom Expo for Young Scientists

Legal name

Expo for Young Scientists

Website

https://exposcience.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

STEM Education and Science Fair Programs

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Fair Competitions (Science Fairs, Research Symposiums) (EDAMAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic Olympiads & Subject Competitions (Science, Math, Informatics) (EDAMAGAE), Hands-on Science Exploration & Experiments (Lab Kits, Science Clubs) (EDAMABAA)

Keywords

• Science fair competitions
• STEM education programs
• Youth research competitions
• Student science expos
• Educational research platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Boksburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and donations: Eskom Expo operates as a non-profit organisation that relies on sponsorship funding from corporate partners (Eskom, Siemens, universities, and other companies) who provide bursaries, cash prizes, and in-kind support to participants. No revenue is generated from learners — participation is free.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Eskom Expo for Young Scientists is a non-profit science fair platform that organizes a tiered STEM research competition for South African learners in Grades 4-12 and TVET college students. Participants progress through compulsory District Expos, 35 Regional Science Fairs, and the annual International Science Fair (ISF), where they compete for bursaries, prizes, and international competition opportunities. The organization supplements the competition with online support tutorials, research resources, workshops, and research camps.

Product overview

Eskom Expo for Young Scientists operates as a comprehensive science education platform and competition ecosystem for South African learners. The core offering is the annual science fair competition structured across four tiers: District Expos (qualifying rounds with expert feedback), Regional Science Fairs (provincial competitions), and the prestigious International Science Fair (ISF) where top performers compete against international peers. The platform supplements competition participation with educational support through 8 online tutorial videos covering research methodology, downloadable research resources and templates, provincial workshops, and research & innovation camps. Prize offerings include substantial bursaries (up to R400,000), cash awards, laptops, tablets, and international competition invitations. The organization supports approximately 35 Expo Regions across South Africa with participation open to Grades 4-12 learners and TVET college students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• International Science Fair (ISF) The annual prestigious science fair bringing together 319+ top researchers from South Africa and international countries (Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ireland, India, Russia, Ghana, Mozambique, Mexico) to compete for prizes, bursaries, laptops, and international competition invitations. The 45th edition was held in 2025.
• District Expos

Quantifiable outcome

• 319 top researchers from 10 countries participated in 2025 ISF
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• SAIEE (South African Institute of Electrical Engineers) Free State CentreminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 October 2024The SAIEE Free State Centre partnered with CUT and Eskom Expo to offer continuous mentorship to learners in the Free State region.
• Central University of Technology (CUT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCUT partnered with SAIEE Free State Centre and Eskom Expo to offer continuous mentorship to learners. CUT also hosted the 2020 Innovation Challenge (i-Gym) in partnership with Eskom Expo, inviting creative ideas to aid economic recovery from COVID-19 pandemic.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stockholm Junior Water Prize: International student competition for water-related research projects. Comparable as a prestigious international science competition for school learners that Eskom Expo winners also pursue, and as a model of sector-sponsored STEM competition prizes.
• Science Olympiad: US-based K-12 STEM competition organisation running tournament-style science events across multiple disciplines. Comparable as a structured, multi-tier academic science competition with regional-to-national progression, school-based participation, and emphasis on hands-on inquiry.
• IRIS Global Symposium: International research initiative for students that hosts an annual symposium where Eskom Expo winners compete and earn gold/silver medals. Closely comparable as a science fair ecosystem that Eskom Expo explicitly feeds into.

Broad incumbents

• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology): Global youth STEM non-profit running robotics and innovation competitions (FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Robotics Competition). Comparable as a large, sponsorship-funded K-12 STEM competition platform with regional-to-international progression that Eskom Expo's offerings parallel in format.
• Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF): The world's largest international pre-college science competition, run by Society for Science. Directly comparable as a multi-tier science fair culminating in a global finals event; Eskom Expo sends its top winners to compete at Regeneron ISEF, making it both a feeder and a global peer.
• Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (legacy): Predecessor to Regeneron ISEF and the global benchmark for school-level science fairs. Directly comparable in format (project-based research, international finalists, multi-million-dollar prize pool) and explicitly the international destination for Eskom Expo's top learners.

Regional players

• African Leadership Academy: Pan-African secondary school and university placement programme identifying high-potential African youth. Comparable as a feeder institution identifying and developing top African STEM talent, often working with overlapping sponsors and partners.
• African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS): Pan-African network of centres of excellence for postgraduate training in mathematical sciences. Comparable as an Africa-based STEM talent development institution that benefits from a similar feeder pipeline of school-level researchers.
• Siyavula Education: South African open educational resources and adaptive learning platform for maths and science. Comparable as a South African STEM education provider targeting school learners, sharing the same market and audience as Eskom Expo.
• Bayer Young Environmental Envoy: Bayer's international youth environmental programme. Comparable as a corporate-sponsored enrichment programme for school-age researchers; Siemens (a key Eskom Expo sponsor) is the kind of multinational that runs parallel STEM youth initiatives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Exposcience
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/ExposcienceCoZa
• Facebookfacebook.com/Exposcience
• Instagraminstagram.com/eskom_expo
• TikToktiktok.com/@exposcience
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/expo-for-young-scientists

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eskom Expo for Young Scientists