Kopano Monaheng
THE reason most Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) don’t succeed is a lack of skills. The black owned businesses are often the ones that struggle the most.
But Standard Bank SME National Pitch Challenge wants to change this. They started the competition three years ago.
Head of enterprise and supplier development for business & commercial banking at Standard Bank, Naledzani Mosomane, said these small businesses and entrepreneurs are the cornerstone of Mzansi economy, and they’re on a mission to help them re-fine their skills and knowledge.
“Through initiatives like this, we are helping township businesses to future-proof themselves, building the resilience needed to thrive,” she said.
This year alone they’ve received over 850 applications from township entrepreneurs across the country.
Now in its third year and expanded nationally for the first time, the Kasi SME National Pitch Challenge has become one of the country’s most dynamic platforms for township businesses.
With participants winning a share of R500 000 in business development grants, and five entrepreneurs came out victorious on the day.
Cloudy Deliveries emerged as the overall winner, securing the top prize of R200, 000. The event took place on Wednesday, 27 August in Kwa-Zulu-Natal.
Ukuhamba occupied 2nd Place with an amount of R100, 000.
A 100% black youth- and women-owned healthcare tech company from Gauteng producing high-quality, affordable prosthetics, braces, and orthotics for amputees and persons with disabilities.
Eastern Cape was also represented. Keiskamma Hygiene Services and Projects occupied the 3rd Place and walked home with a whopping R80, 000 in cash prize.
It is a cleaning and environmental services business. They do pest control, gardening, deep cleaning, and mobile car wash services to both residential and commercial clients.
The host province saw Ariel Robotics snatch the 4th Place winning R70, 000. This is an innovative drone technology company developing autonomous drones for inventory management and logistics, enhancing supply chain efficiency and warehouse operations.
The 5th Place was taken by another KZN business, the Sky Drop. They pocketed R50 000 to bolster their business.
Sky Drop is an eco-friendly water business producing potable water through atmospheric water generators, supplying clean and healthy drinking water to households, communities, and businesses. Mosomane said they selected 18 finalists from all nine provinces with two entrepreneurs per province.
Each finalist received free SimplyBLU machines, the bank’s all-in-one payment solution for SMEs, to help them digitise and scale their businesses. In addition, they will each receive a complimentary ticket to the South African Future Trust (SAFT) Summit on 5 and 6 November, this year where they will also have access to a dedicated pitch den to showcase their businesses to potential investors.
The Challenge was anchored in Standard Bank’s Enterprise & Supplier Development (ESD) strategy, which provides financial and non-financial support to black-owned SMEs. The ESD programme focuses on businesses that are at least 51% black-owned, have strong growth potential, and typically operate with an annual turnover of under R50 million.
