Johannesburg – After a record 1 400 entries were received for the 2024 Nedbank Pitch & Polish Entrepreneurial Competition, 16 entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for a shot at securing a business upliftment prize worth R1 million. As in previous years, there is a broad mix of business types among the entries, including innovative tech start-ups, salons specialising in the treatment of dreadlocks, a biodegradable textile, a groundbreaking at-home health-testing solution, and just about everything in between.
Now in its 14th season, Nedbank Pitch & Polish will once again offer contestants a structured learning programme that will help them hone their investment pitching skills and boost their likelihood of receiving funding for their businesses. Each entrepreneur will be matched with a business mentor from Africa’s leading incubator, Raizcorp, who will work with them on strategy, finance, sales and marketing so that even those contestants who don’t win a prize will leave with valuable knowledge to help them grow successful, sustainable businesses.
This year’s winner will walk away with R650 000 in cash and a bursary worth R350 000 to participate in a full 2‑year Raizcorp business acceleration programme. The first runner-up will take home R100 000 cash, and the second runner-up will receive R50 000.
The competition organisers combed through over 1 400 applications to identify the 16 contestants who will kick off round 1 of the competition. The contestants are:
Keenan George
Smart-View Technology, Western Cape
At a time when everyone is looking for ways to cut costs and conserve resources, Keenan George has found a way to do both. His Smart-View utility management system – focusing on water, electricity and gas – optimises utility consumption for businesses, allowing business owners to make data-driven decisions that lead to more sustainable, cost-effective operations.
Babongile Mqwathi
Valour Flora, Gauteng
Valour Flora is a flower shop that offers a vibrant array of fresh flowers, delightful gifts and charming balloons. Whether you’re looking for a bouquet to express love, a gift to celebrate a milestone or balloons to bring joy, owner Babongile strives to provide exceptional quality and service, ensuring each customer leaves with a smile.
Bandile Fihla
Masigcobe Holdings, Eastern Cape
Is there anything new parents want more than a decent night’s sleep? Well, Bandile Fihla has made it his business to ensure they get it! His business produces and sells a natural remedy, Iyeza LePleyiti. It offers relief from the pain and discomfort associated with colic in infants and is based on a trusted family recipe that has been refined over the years.
Fortune Gumede
Jepo Cleaning Services, Gauteng
Fortune has developed a user-friendly mobile app that takes the hassle out of funeral planning, giving grieving families peace of mind when it matters most. His app makes organising the funeral, sharing the necessary arrangements and live tracking the convoy easier than ever.
Luthando Mchiza
Perfect Drilling, KwaZulu-Natal
The team at Perfect Drilling believes that water is a basic need for all. They work closely with the government and private sector to provide geotechnical services, including borehole drilling, water-quality testing, water purification and filtration systems to homes, farms and schools in previously disadvantaged villages.
Cheslin Denman
Innoble, Gauteng
Running a business involves a fair amount of paperwork and there are a lot of admin and compliance boxes to tick. Techpreneur Cheslin Denman has created Innoble, a digital platform that simplifies the burden of compliance administration, tracking and notification for SMMEs – it even matches businesses with nearby market-funding opportunities.
Thabiso Ngcobo
Shielder, KwaZulu-Natal
Thabiso’s innovative product could revolutionise the burial industry: the shielder is a treated timber structure that’s currently supplied to funeral homes. The product is used as a measurement tool for the grave site preparations that protects the coffin from termites and prevents the soil and gravestone from collapsing.
Sibongiseni Mngadi
Zinacare, Gauteng
With Zinacare’s healthcare tests, you can skip the doctor or clinic visit and have various non-invasive heath test kits delivered to your front door which allow you to self-collect a medical sample that will be collected from your doorstep and sent to the lab for testing. The service fee includes the cost of sending the sample to the lab, and you receive your confidential results within 48 hours. How’s that for fast, convenient and hassle-free healthcare?
Ardis Phaswane
P-Unit Services & Projects, Gauteng
Inspired by her personal journey in overcoming bulimia, Ardis created a healthy, nutritious porridge, which can be served hot or cold, either as a drink or a meal. It is recommended for use by people with a range of health concerns, including diabetes, anaemia, bulimia and high or low blood pressure.
Wayne Abbott
Rent2Recover, KwaZulu-Natal
Inspired by a deeply personal story, Wayne started Rent2Recover to make at-home medical recovery periods more manageable and cost-effective for patients and their families. The company offers short-term rental options for mobility equipment like electric wheelchairs, scooters, as well as hospital beds and bath lifts.
Kenneth Twala
Mandla Twala Ceramics & House Revamp, Gauteng
Kenneth is a qualified ceramic designer who specialises in manufacturing pottery such as vases, pots and mirrors, which are supplied to high-end and middle-market décor and furniture shops. Through his business, Kenneth aspires to use crafting as a way to create jobs for both women and men, particularly in township communities.
Phumulile Mkhonza
PSD Scent Perfumes, Mpumalanga
Meet the fragrance queen, Phumulile. Her business is a manufacturer and wholesaler of perfumes, personal body care products like fragranced body lotions, body butter and tissue oil. She recently expanded her range to include homecare items like natural reed diffusers, scented linen sprays and car air-fresheners. Phumulile proudly offers perfume filling and capping services for emerging perfumers in the market and supplies her products to lodges, guest houses and hotels.
Braden Snyman and Avi Maja
Breaze Delivery, Gauteng
Braden and Avi are the dynamic duo behind Breaze Delivery, a platform that connects over 700 drivers with clients on online ordering platforms to facilitate fast and affordable deliveries, including same-day and on-demand (60-minute) delivery for e-commerce merchants. Over 100 clients are connected to their platform and, in the past 12 months, they have paid out R3 million in revenue to their drivers.
Cindy Semenye
LungoTavolo Tex 54, Gauteng
Cindy tapped into her years of experience in the fashion industry to create her signature biodegradable fabric, washi, which means ‘paper’ in Japanese. Drawing inspiration from an ancient Japanese papermaking technique, she crafts the washi from the Abacá plant and softwood oak cellulose to create the final product, which is a step in the right direction for a more sustainable textile industry. The company also uses natural dyes and blends the paper strips with silk or other eco-friendly strands to create washi yarn.
Xolani Nombenu
XTLS Dreadlocks Specialist, KwaZulu-Natal
Xolani and his business partners run 3 thriving salons in KwaZulu-Natal that provide high-quality products and services to help their clients grow dreadlocks from scratch and maintain healthy locs. They are on a mission to encourage Africans to love and embrace their natural hair and pride themselves on providing skills and employment opportunities to previously disadvantaged youth.
Nthabiseng Lephoko
Nutrintha, Gauteng
Nthabiseng’s vision for Nutrintha was to blend nature and science to promote holistic wellness and beauty. The brand specialises in superfoods, offering products like smoothies, drinks and meal replacements that include sea moss, a vegan, gluten-free source of many nutrients. The business is sustainability conscious, sourcing their sea moss from compliant and ethical suppliers. They also use the sea moss byproducts to manufacture other organic products.
Even though these entrepreneurs have made it to the Nedbank Pitch & Polish top 16, there are no guarantees that one of them will secure the 1st prize because, in the final episode, the top 2 finalists will have to go head-to-head with the wildcard entry: someone who delivers their 1st, and only, pitch in the finale but has just as much chance as the other contestants to go home with the R1 million prize.
The 1st episode of 2024 Nedbank Pitch & Polish launched on Tuesday, 6 August 2024. Tune in to the PITCHandPOLISH YouTube channel to watch as the battle of the pitches starts.
About Nedbank Pitch & Polish
Nedbank Pitch & Polish, now in its 14th year, is sponsored by Nedbank and powered by Raizcorp. It’s a blend of competition, 1-on-1 mentoring and entrepreneurial learning. The contestants engage in a gripping battle of business pitches while competing for the ultimate prize worth an incredible R1 million. The entrepreneurial skills and knowledge they learn during the process will increase their chances of obtaining investment or funding and establishing sustainable businesses. To find out more about the 2024 Nedbank Pitch & Polish Programme, visit pitchandpolish.com.
About Raizcorp
Raizcorp is, according to The Economist, the only genuine incubator in Africa, which provides full-service enterprise and supplier development programmes that guide entrepreneurs to profitability. Raizcorp has created Prosperation™ – its own unique, world-renowned model of business incubation. Founded in 2000, Raizcorp has become Africa’s premier business incubator model. For more information visit raizcorp.com.