South Africa's Enterprise and Supplier Development Landscape
South Africa's Enterprise and Supplier Development Landscape
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    • The Role of Information in Enabling Entrepreneurship
    • Starting-up: Creating Assets while Reducing Risks
    • Breaking into an unchallenged field
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    • Diversification as a Rapid Growth and Expansion Strategy
    • Are Early Stage Entrepreneurship Development Programmes Misaligned to South African Reality?
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  • About
    • About Us
    • About this Website
    • Contact
    • Newsletter Subscription
  • Blog
  • Thought Leadership
    • The Role of Information in Enabling Entrepreneurship
    • Starting-up: Creating Assets while Reducing Risks
    • Breaking into an unchallenged field
    • Navigating Corporate Supply Chains
    • Diversification as a Rapid Growth and Expansion Strategy
    • Are Early Stage Entrepreneurship Development Programmes Misaligned to South African Reality?
  • Search ESD Programmes
  • Newsletter Subscription
Programme: Grindstone Accelerator
 
Organisation: Knife Capital
 

Type of Support
  • Entrepreneurial Development
  • Investment Readiness
  • Growth Strategy
 

Programme Description
 
Grindstone is a year-long entrepreneurial development programme to assist innovation-driven businesses in accelerating strategy execution. Grindstone supplies 10 companies annually with knowledge, networks and funding readiness through growth measurement, gap analysis and deep interventions designed to build a foundation for growth, transfer skills, create relevant business networks and enable these companies to take advantage of market access opportunities. Business support resources and services include elements of training, corporate advisory, coaching, mentorship and funding.
The programme can be customised for any Corporate wanting to ensure that the companies in its supplier development programme become sustainable and can scale to the next level by measurably addressing the gaps in each participating SME.
 

Target Market

Innovation-driven Small and Medium Enterprises
 

Application Process

An online application needs to be submitted for consideration.
 

Success Stories
​

In the first year of Grindstone, the ten participating SMEs achieved the following results:
  • Created 43 new direct jobs;
  • Added R43 million in revenue across the ten companies;
  • Grew by 61% year-on-year in revenue;
  • Increased their number of key customers by 120%;
  • Doubled their company valuations on average;
  • Increased their mastering of business fundamentals index by 20% – from 65% to 78%.
 
In January 2015 one of the Grindstone participants: Radar specialist iKubu was acquired by NASDAQ-listed navigation giant Garmin. Garmin is establishing research and development centre in Stellenbosch via iKubu.
 
This year Knife Capital accepted thirteen businesses on the programme, enabled by the nature of the opportunities presented combined with corporate partnerships reached.
 

Contact Details
Email: grindstone@knifecap.com
Website: http://www.knifecap.com/grindstone.php
Twitter: @GrindstoneXL
 
Applications are to be made online via the website
 
 

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Our aim is to partner with you in maximising your success through the programmes available to support your business.