Startup Club ZA, in partnership with the Oppenheimer SA Future Trust, has announced the launch of The Big Pitch 2025, a $1 million (R18 million) start-up pitch competition.
In a statement, Startup Club ZA says: “Applications are now officially open for what promises to be a game-changing opportunity for early-stage, high-growth start-ups across the country and beyond.”
It notes that over the next six months, 20 of South Africa’s most promising start-ups will compete live on stage for an “unprecedented investment” in their business – subject to due diligence and terms – alongside media exposure and access to top-tier partners.
Ten start-ups will compete in each of the two regional qualifiers in Johannesburg (April) and Cape Town (August). The top five start-ups from each qualifier will advance to the final at the South African Future Trust Summit, to be hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre in October.
“Core to our mission is spotlighting the exceptional start-ups, founders and solutions that are emerging across South Africa,” says Mathew Marsden, founder of Startup Club ZA.
“The Big Pitch 2025 is more than just a pitch event for significant investment – it’s a platform to showcase our country’s most promising tech entrepreneurs and uncover the immense untapped potential within our innovation ecosystem.”
To qualify, start-up businesses must demonstrate disruptive innovation, commercial scalability and the ability to solve significant problems using technology.
Start-ups from anywhere in the world are encouraged to apply, provided they meet the application criteria, says Startup Club ZA.
Marsden tells ITWeb in an e-mail that start-ups that have raised previous funding are welcome to apply, as long as they are considered “pre-Series A” – they have not raised a series A, usually defined by revenue milestones, valuation metrics and their different need for capital.
“These are not necessarily companies ‘starting out’, but rather we inherit the Silicon Valley definition of a start-up – being innovation-led, big opportunity, high growth, technology-enabled companies. Series A funding rounds are usually the ones we see disclosed to the press,” he says.
“We are sector- and technology-stack agnostic, but applicants must meet our definition of a start-up – a disruptive early-stage business that is using innovative technology to solve a significant problem for a large market, while creating or capturing commercial value. The mandate here is to meet incredible entrepreneurs, building solutionist businesses through innovative technologies.”
According to Marsden, risk capital is a crucial gap facing South African start-ups, “especially at the early stages where businesses have built the technology and have the foundations, but require the capital to go-to-market, validate their assumptions and scale”.
Applications for the first qualifier in Johannesburg close on 8 April. Interested applicants can click here and spectators can click here to buy tickets.
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