Altron Bill Venter Academy

Dr Bill Venter founded Altron in Johannesburg in 1965, and the company first made components for televisions and radios. The Bill Venter Academy, named after him, is the skills development arm of the Altron Group, a JSE-listed technology company that now works in ICT infrastructure, IT services and digital solutions.

Registered name

Altron Bill Venter Academy

Type

Corporate skills academy (technology group)

Fields funded

ICT and technology-related study

Website

altron.com

Email

info@altron.com

Phone

+27 11 645 3600

Six decades of Altron

Altron’s own history page traces the group’s growth. Altron launched on 1 April 1965, and early marketing featured Dr Venter’s sister. In the 1970s Altron moved into telecommunications and consumer electronics: Dr Venter established Altech in 1975 and Powertech in 1979, and both listed on the JSE. The 1980s brought Ventron Corporation to manage the portfolio, the acquisition of Fintech in 1984 and of Motorola South Africa in 1985. Altech ranked seventh on the Sunday Times Top 100 in 1981.

After 2000, Altron focused increasingly on IT services and software. Altron now describes its purpose as helping customers operate, optimise and transform, and publishes research such as South Africa’s first financial services Employee Technology Experience Index.

The academy’s bursary

The Bill Venter Academy funds students in technology fields. Applications for 2026 have closed, and no 2027 call had been published when BursariesAfrica checked. Past rounds closed between August and September, so the academy has missed its usual window for 2027 or has not advertised it widely.

How to find out whether the academy is funding students

Email the academy’s bursary office through Altron’s contact details and ask whether a 2027 intake will open, which fields it will cover and whether bursars complete work experience in Altron businesses. Ask as well about Altron’s learnerships and graduate programmes, which may offer a route in if the bursary does not run.

Altron’s history of building local manufacturing and technology businesses gives applicants plenty to discuss in a motivation. Explain which part of Altron’s current business interests you, such as IT services, security or software, rather than repeating the company’s history.

Students who reach Altron through other routes, such as graduate programmes, still benefit from the academy’s focus on skills, so check Altron’s careers pages for internships in software, networks and cybersecurity.

ICT students can compare the academy with active funders on our ICT bursaries page.