About Startup Founder Pitch

Many Allan Gray Fellows pursue impactful careers across business, the public sector and civil society while also launching ventures that address South Africa’s most pressing challenges. SFP supports Fellows building meaningful ventures alongside full-time commitments by providing catalytic pre-seed capital to progress toward commercial viability and scalability before transitioning into full-time entrepreneurship.

Eligible Fellows may apply to E Squared, Pre-Seed for consideration. Shortlisted ventures are invited to present to the Pre-Seed Investment Committee, demonstrating how SFP funding will advance their venture to the next stage of development. Successful applicants can receive up to R200,000 in once-off funding, with the potential for an additional matched amount of up to R250,000 where third-party institutional capital has been secured.

SFP exists to enable Fellows to take the first meaningful step towards an investable venture whistling transitioning to full-time entrepreneurship , with the confidence that early catalytic capital is available.

Application Process

The programme follows a structured application and evaluation process, including the development of an investment grade pitch deck with the support of by a Venture Builder to be submitted and pitched to the IC for review.

This pitch-driven process ensures that funding decisions are well-informed, transparent and aligned with E Squared’s investment readiness criteria.

You may be a strong fit if you:

  • Have launched a venture demonstrating early traction or commercial viability but are not yet ready to transition into full-time entrepreneurship
  • Are validating a new venture requiring catalytic capital to reach full market readiness
  • Are building a venture with modest capital needs not yet suited to Pathways or E Squared Ventures (E2V)
  • Have not yet received Pathways and E Squared Ventures (E2V) investment and are actively pursuing, third-party funding that SFP could match
Apply Here