At just 28, Welkom-born 
entrepreneur Thapelo Vincent Photolo is steadily carving out his place in South Africa’s technology landscape through his company, InterLab.
Founded in 2021, the business recently walked away with the Business Development of the Year award at the National Presidential MSME and Cooperatives Awards – a milestone that confirms its growing impact in the sector.
InterLab provides a range of information technology services, specialising in software development with a strong focus on cybersecurity and network engineering.
For Photolo, the foundation of his business was laid long before InterLab officially opened its doors.
“From a very young age, I always loved to play around with tech equipment. My mother recognised this and advised me to study something related,” he recalls. He followed her guidance and pursued Intelligent Industrial Systems at the Tshwane University of Technology, graduating in 2018.
Armed with a degree and an entrepreneurial spirit, Photolo was determined to start his own company.
“I have never had the idea of working for someone else, even when I was doing my internship,” he says.
But the road was not straightforward. In 2019, he returned home to Welkom and spent a year without direction. Then tragedy struck.
“When COVID-19 hit in 2020, I lost my mother.” The loss weighed heavily on him, but it strengthened his resolve. By June 2022, InterLab was officially born.
In the company’s early days, Photolo self-funded the business.
By 2023, Photolo began exploring opportunities for support from institutions such as the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency Free State (Sedfa).
After completing various training programmes, he secured R50 000 in funding from the NYDA and joined an incubation programme in Botshabelo.
InterLab’s breakthrough came in 2024 when the business received R200 000 in funding from Sedfa after winning the Best Business Development Provider award at the Presidential SMME Awards. In addition, the company received R100 000 through Sedfa’s Technology Transfer Assistance (TTA) Programme.
The TTA Programme supports government priorities by emphasising incubation, technology transfer and gender mainstreaming. It provides infrastructure, expert guidance and business development services, while also offering grants for equipment, machinery and limited working capital.
Looking ahead, Photolo is determined to scale InterLab beyond South Africa’s borders. “I am sure that in two to three years, I will be working with international clients and the InterLab story will be known globally.”
Although InterLab currently has no permanent employees, it outsources work to youth-owned businesses, ensuring that opportunities circulate in the local economy.
Contact Thapelo Vincent Photolo on 073 271 8056 for more information
Contact Sedfa at www.sedfa.org.za and NYDA at www.nyda.gov.za
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