This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
On August 30, 2019, Knife Capital announced the impressive growth metrics of its fourth Grindstone Accelerator programme.
The year-long programme provides ten South African SMEs with proven traction with the necessary support to build a foundation for growth, making them more investable, sustainable, and exit-ready.
Some of South Africa's best scale-up companies have been through Grindstone, including iKubu, SeaMonster, Payfast, Picsa, and Custos.
Knife Capital invested in Quicket and Granite via its SARS Section 12J Venture Capital Company: KNF Ventures.
Over the past year, the 10 participating SMEs collectively added R35 million to their top line, grew revenue by 36%, created 27 new jobs, and increased business fundamentals by 33%.
According to Andrea Böhmert, Co-Managing Partner at Knife Capital, the programme's success demonstrates that it is possible to engineer growth on a significant and sustainable scale by offering the right guidance and support to coachable entrepreneurs.
Of the top Grindstone4 companies, Knife Capital invested in Granite WMS to expand the warehouse management software business internationally.
Locstat Systems, a geospatial data analytics company, achieved the highest growth across all metrics and won the Grindstone prize of R100,000 to spend on an international business development initiative.
