STARTUP FEST SA: 3 MINUTES TO R 30, 000

Dr Vathiswa Papu-Zamxaka TUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation (far left), Amahle Hadebe of ASIBONGE Agri and Projects [Best Startup-Winner of R30000 seed funding] (left centred), Cassandra Moodley – VISA Social Impact Analyst (right centred), Lebogang Rampa – CED Junior Business Consultant

By Mpilenhle Hadebe
Marketing Manager for Start-Up Hurdle Pretoria

What a great start to an envisioned annual Startup Festival South Africa event hosted by Tshwane University of Technology’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Startup Huddle Pretoria, during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

All the way from rural KZN, Amahle Hadebe was uprooted from his farming and animal loving family home in Newcastle, to the bustling Tshwane Metropolitan.

TUT being his new home away from home could not allow him to not nurture and grow his aspirations of taking the potential of his town to new heights.

Thus, through the entrepreneurial programs, Asibonge Agri and Projects (pry) Ltd was birthed.

Startup Fest was actioned for this exact reason: to bring young entrepreneurs in a room with investors, industry leaders, like-minded SMEs, government and NGOs in order to cultivate a new generation of successful entrepreneurs that will disrupt industry.

During the Startup Huddle Pretoria pitching segment, a top 10 pre-selected group had the opportunity to pitch for a chance to receive substantial seed funding from VISA: one of the key Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Entrepreneurship Programme and Startup Fest event sponsors.

Mr Amahle did not take this opportunity for granted, hitting all the right pitching points and leaving the judges and the room stunned.

Key points from his SME that won him a whopping R30,000.00 seed funding, being: Zero debt, fully asset-backed (lamb livestock & land access), extremely high margins via free lamb grazing and having a strong shareholding structure with real community impact.

What made it more special is his adamant stance on solving SDG goals, such as youth unemployment and food insecurity in rural KwaZulu-Natal by turning under-utilised communal land into profitable commercial farming units.

A highlight from the day came from judge Cecil Van Niekerk who raised up his hand to purchase a month’s worth of premium lamb from Asibonge Agri and Projects.

“Startup Fest changed everything for us. The platform, coaching and exposure led directly to us winning the Startup CED Youth in Business Competition today.

Massive thank you to the people involved in giving me this opportunity. this prize is exactly the rocket fuel Asibonge needs to scale and employ more youth in 2026!”, said Amahle Hadebe.

Dr Patrick, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development affirmed that even after winning, CED will be fully accessible to the group of students entrepreneurs to guide them to full success.

We wish all winners well and hope the entrepreneurial spirit continues to thrive within South Africa.