South African Startups can apply for the Grindstone Accelerator programme
Applications for Grindstone’s accelerator programme, an initiative tailored towards scaling up high-growth and innovation-driven SMEs in South Africa, are now open.
The program is an equity free organized business advancement program that runs for a year and participants will be given market access openings, financing preparation, gap analysis, and value adding mediations.
The accelerator program started in 2014 to build and develop broader startup ecosystem that includes alumni, advisors, angels & partners. The program plans to give training and backing to help chosen startups become sustainable and fundable. The accelerator firm also aims to close the much needed pre-Series A and post-seed gaps which are currently underfunded stages in South Africa’s startup funding journey.
This is the eighth Cape Town cohort and ninth Johannesburg cohort for the accelerator program. According to Grindstone, previous startups that participated in its accelerator program experienced an overall revenue increase of 52%, an increase in business efficiency across 30% of a business’s functional areas, and rising follow-on funding.
Grindstone has outlined the following requirements for interested applicants:
- Must be a South African registered company
- Indicate post-revenue with customer traction and at least R500k revenue per annum
- A dynamic team
- Display innovation with a clear competitive differentiator
- Showcase a scalable business model.
Application for the program runs till 30th April, and interested startups can click here to register.