Startups based in South Africa can apply for the Grindstone Accelerator Programme.
Grindstone is a year-long entrepreneurial development programme, jointly owned by Knife Capital and Thinkroom Consullting, to assist post-revenue scalable innovation-driven businesses, registered in South Africa, in accelerating strategy execution becoming more sustainable and fundable in the process.
Currently in its fourth Cohort, Grindstone selects 10 companies annually and provides them 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.
In a related development, Knife Capital has joined forces with the SA SME Fund and Deloitte to launch the next iteration of Grindstone 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 economic powerhouse of South Africa.
Business support resources and services will include elements of training, corporate advisory, coaching, mentorship and funding. Specific interventions for each company include a structured gap analysis, understanding of the company value system, building a digital go-to-market strategy, financial modelling, intellectual property assessment, strategic and financial valuation as well as populating a data room.
Favourable funding support will also be provided to the 10 Grindstone Companies to enable them to de-risk and close the initial growth gaps identified.
In addition to Knife Capital’s Funding Readiness Course: Find-Make-Grow-Realise, there will be 6 x 1-day workshops over the year which will cover the following aspects:
- Culture & Strategy
- Sales & Marketing
- Market Positioning & Messaging
- IP, Product & Technical
- Finance, Valuation and Exit
- Legal compliance & HR
Through Grindstone, Knife Capital forms long-term partnerships with scale-up entrepreneurs for a shared upside.
Applications close 22nd of April 2019.
