Knife Capital Extends Accelerator to Johannesburg

Knife Capital, a Cape Town-based Venture Capital firm has partnered with South Africa Small Market Enterprise Fund and Deloitte to launch its Grindstone Accelerator programme aimed at innovation-driven startups in Jo’burg.

The Grindstone, jointly owned by Knife Capital and Thinkroom Consulting, is a structured entrepreneurship development programme that assists small businesses to become sustainable and fundable by enrolling them in a year-long program. The program covers some elements of training, corporate advisory, coaching, mentorship and funding.

Specific interventions for each company includes 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.

Currently in its fourth Cohort, Grindstone selects 10 companies annually and provides them with trainings and funds to build a foundation for growth, skills, and to create relevant business networks to enable these companies take advantage of market access opportunities.

“With this being the first time that the programme is offered in Johannesburg after successfully running it in Cape Town for four cohorts, we really want to tap into the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and highlight success stories,” says Andrea Bӧhmert, co-Managing partner at Knife Capital.

“The SA SME Fund is committed to developing world class local entrepreneurs and has partnered with Grindstone because they have consistently supported and grown South African scale-ups,” said Ketso Gordhan, CEO of the SA SME Fund. The SA SME Fund will provide funding support of up to Zar1 million ($69,000) to support the 10 Grindstone companies.

Chief digital and innovation officer at Deloitte Africa Valter Adão said the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurs is access to business insights, mentorship and access to customer networks at the right levels of seniority. Through the programme, Deloitte will introduce entrepreneurs and businesses to the valuable and credible networks it has access to.

The Grindstone 5 is supported by Webber Wentzel, FNB Business, Billybo Group, Thinkroom. Knife Capital will work with other leading Johannesburg-based incubators and entrepreneurial support organizations to deliver the programme. Applications for the Grindstone 5 will close on April 22nd, 2019. Click here to apply.