A South African accelerator promoting and enabling business owners in the green sector has been launched by the Anglo American Foundation (AAF) in collaboration with Grindstone, an accelerator famous for designing high-growth businesses.
By giving them a special chance to raise money and get market access, the alliance intends to find and support 15 tech and tech-enabled firms. The partnership will support environmentally responsible behavior and create sustainable practices, with a strong emphasis on youth employment in South Africa.
The Grindstone accelerator in 2023 will be a six-month program created exclusively for startups in the green industry from post-seed through Series A. This year’s accelerator will bring in 15 high-growth, innovation-driven green startups by leveraging the ecosystem and key partners.
The chosen firms will receive specialized fundraising preparedness assistance, which will include a thorough gap analysis, workshops on strategy and people, marketing and sales, funding, and valuation, as well as monthly in-depth coaching sessions. At the conclusion of the program, the winning company will also receive a financial incentive. Additionally, entrepreneurs will graduate with access to a network of possible investors and a limited data room.
“We are ecstatic to work with the Anglo American Foundation on this innovative project. We have observed a significant surge in green economy entrepreneurs applying to our programs over the past 24 months. In an effort to balance our cohorts from a diversity viewpoint, we have also significantly boosted the number of young and female-founded enterprises, according to Catherine Young, managing partner at Grindstone.
