20 South African innovation-driven SMEs have been selected for the latest Grindstone Accelerator programme cohorts in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Grindstone Accelerator is a structured entrepreneurship development programme jointly owned by venture capital (VC) fund manager Knife Capital and market access specialist Thinkroom Consulting.
The programme takes South African SMEs with proven traction through an intensive year-long review of their strategies and provides them with the necessary support to build a foundation for growth in becoming more investable, sustainable, marketable and exit-ready.
Grindstone, which recently secured backing from the SA SME Fund and launched a VC fund to provide early-stage equity funding to its cohorts of companies and alumni, has announced the 20 companies selected for its next two cohorts, taking place in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The companies selected include e-commerce platform On The Bench, neuromarketing company Neural Sense, digital modernisation service Skywalk Innovations, IoT company Matter Industries, and customised learning platform Zaio.
Also selected are remote workforce management tool GWork.io, locum-finder Locumbase, social media platform Continuon, real-time financial analytics dashboard SME Snapshot, and pre-owned luxury goods platform Luxity.
Digital wealth platform Franc, retail distribution platform Shelfline, AI startup Mint AI, online wellness company Syked and software development firm InfoByte Technologies are also taking part, as are vehicle compliance service Sorted, health insurance startup Oyi Medical Card, online sourcing marketplace TradeBRICS, vehicle maintenance app cARscan, and security tech startup Surion.
“We are extremely satisfied with the collaborative efforts of our team, partners and friends from the ecosystem for curating two extremely strong and complimentary cohorts from the more than 200 applications received. We invested significant time and diligence to ensure that we can add value to the top 20 entrepreneurs and their ventures in achieving their business goals and growth prospects,” said Will Green, programme director at Grindstone.
Meanwhile, Grindstone also announced the growth metrics of its fifth cohort, which has just concluded and helped the participating SMEs circumvent the challenging South African economic environment. In one year, the 10 South African SMEs taking part grew revenue by an average of 54 per cent, created 23 new jobs, and increased business fundamentals by 27 per cent.
