South African venture capital firm Knife Capital announced the growth metrics of its fourth Grindstone Accelerator programme. The year-long programme takes ten South African SMEs with proven traction through an intensive review of their strategies and provides them with the necessary support to build a foundation for growth in becoming more investable, sustainable and exit-ready.
Some…
It’s any merchandiser’s dream: Warehouses packed to the rafters with products ready to be shipped and a solid pipeline with more deals on their way. But what happens when you outgrow your warehouse systems and processes, and your growth starts costing you money?
Granite WMS is an easy to use barcode-based warehouse management system (WMS) developed…
From digital satellite solutions to waterless sanitation, marketing automation and creative Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, innovation is the common thread linking the 10 diverse enterprises selected for the first Johannesburg iteration of Knife Capital’s Grindstone Accelerator programme.
Grindstone is a structured entrepreneurship development programme, jointly owned by Knife Capital and Thinkroom Consulting, that assists high-growth innovation-driven…
Knife Capital has joined forces with the SA SME Fund and Deloitte to launch the next iteration of their Grindstone Accelerator programme in Johannesburg. Aimed at entrepreneurs who are ready to take their businesses to the next level, the programme promises to spotlight the contribution that high-growth entrepreneurs make in enabling Gauteng to be the…
Today, South African venture capital firm Knife Capital announced the top twelve companies participating in its fourth Grindstone Accelerator programme. Grindstone engineers growth for South African innovation-driven entrepreneurs by shaping their companies to become more investable, sustainable and exit-ready.
Some of South Africa’s best scale-up companies have been through Grindstone with measurable results.…
The numerous South African SME ecosystem reports that have been published so far in 2018 paint a picture of a rising tide in local entrepreneurship: an increasing number of incubators with a diverse range of focus areas, entrepreneurship as an acceptable viable career path, and more funding available to back early-stage entrepreneurs than ever before.…
There is a sense of renewed energy in the South African Venture Capital (VC) and early-stage technology investment sector with the introduction of Section12J funds and the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) vehicles arriving on the JSE.
While this is good news for driving innovation and investment, one of the key parts to the South African…
We have previously mentioned that the South African venture capital sector is seeing an increase in investment activity. We have previously covered the Knife Capital / KNF Section12J fund and highlighted the importance of these funds actually deploying investor capital.
Knife Capital has announced a new deal. As per the press release:
DataProphet is a Cape Town…
If you want the right answers, you need to ask the right questions … and it’s clear that investors are asking far more critical questions about Section12J funds and “Venture Capital” in South Africa.
Last night, I attended the KNF Ventures investor update. For those not familiar with the fund, KNF is run by the highly…
On Friday morning I had the opportunity to attend the Kalon Venture Partners event in Melrose Arch, here is some feedback on the session and some high-level thoughts on Section12J.
As some background, Kalon is a Venture Capital Company established with a Section12J fund. The fund aims to invest in high-growth technology businesses – primarily in…