By MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG – SOUTH Africa’s talented black entrepreneurs, over the years starved of institutional support, mentorship and guidance, are fulfilling their potential thanks to a programme initiated to bring historically disadvantaged groups into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The success of the young businesses is attributed to Endeavor’s Excelerator programme, backed by Endeavor’s Board of Directors which includes the likes of Discovery Chief Executive Officer Adrian Gore and Paul Harris of RMB Holdings.
To date, Endeavor’s Excelerator programme has supported standout successes that are making a significant impact on jobs and economic growth in South Africa.
Such businesses include Tin-Pac Promotional Packaging, Matayo Biofuels, Stimela Brewing Co, Skinny Sbu Socks, Khepri Biosciences, Urban Grown and Tawanda Water Initiative (Pty) Ltd T/A LWI.
Dikeledi Mosime, founder of Tin Pac, says that the programme forced her to really take stock of the business and to carefully review the existing structures and processes.
“As an entrepreneur with many ideas, you can get your priorities mixed up and start to lose direction,” she explained.
“The Excelerator advisory board guided me in bringing more accountability to the business, and helped me to create much needed structure and formalised processes.”
In order to join the Excelerator programme, entrepreneurs must meet the selection criteria such as leadership potential, ecosystem impact, scale and acceleration, ownership (founder led with 51 percent black ownership) and the business inflection point.
“We look for earlier stage businesses that have the potential to become high growth companies, by supporting them for 24-months,” said Nolu Nghala, former Excelerator Portfolio Manager.
As a National Empowerment Rating Agency accredited service provider, Endeavor South Africa is an intermediary that allocates funds to screening, selecting and servicing qualified beneficiaries.
“Excelerator seeks to extend Endeavor South Africa’s reach to identify the highest potential black-owned businesses,” said Nghala.
– Guardian
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