WDB Investment Holdings (WDB) has taken a 30% stake in Seed Engine (incorporating Seed Academy). Grovest, a Venture Capital Company has also taken a 27,5% stake in Seed Engine.

Faith Khanyile, CEO of WDB, says its investment brings together a common concern that these organisations are working to address, the transformation of South Africa’s economy by developing sustainable entrepreneurial businesses.

WDB, incorporating the WDB Trust and WDB Investment Holdings, has a 25 year track record of delivering high-impact socio-economic programmes that directly improve people’s lives, especially the poorest and most neglected. “We needed a strategic partner that would instantly allow us to scale up our efforts around entrepreneurship in SA, especially amongst women. Seed Engine was one of the first ICT accelerators in this country, and this dynamic for-profit social enterprise is now supporting the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem from startup through to supplier.”

Jeff Miller, CEO of Grovest explains that his organisation brings an in-depth understanding of the entrepreneur and venture capital ecosystems, a solid track record of successful investments and over 100 years combined management experience in capital raising, listings, MBOs and trade sales.

Donna Rachelson, CEO of Seed Engine and Seed Academy, says entrepreneurs are the job creators of the future and these investments have created strategic partnerships that will amplify our training, support and funding mechanisms at every stage of the entrepreneurial lifecycle. “It will help unlock well-known barriers the small business sector faces, like access to markets and access to funding.

“Incubation is not producing the results SA needs and entrepreneurs are battling to build and scale their businesses and create jobs. We take a fresh look at our entrepreneurial system and make quick, sustainable changes that result in jobs, wealth and certainty. Through the WDB and Grovest we will be able to tap into corporate and government relationships and networks that will help Seed Engine reach deeper into the communities and sectors that need the most urgent support.”

Khanyile says that the WDB’s 25-year track record is aligned with the future vision of Seed Engine. “Our investment is likely to increase to 51% and as a women’s company, we have an appropriate bias towards empowering female entrepreneurs and being a meaningful active investor. The partnership serves both the business and social agenda of WDB.”

Rachelson says, “The BEE deals of the past are no longer relevant. We want to create genuine mechanisms to expand SA’s ‘missing middle’. There is no doubt, that the investment by a black-owned entity focused on impact investments will cement Seed Academy’s position in enterprise and supplier development in South Africa.

“A key focus of our work is to make sure that startups progress steadily into enterprises and become registered vendors that provide reliable products and services to the supply chains of public and private South African companies.

“The WDB’s shift away from ordinary to highly impact and measurable investments fits with Seed’s culture of action and impact.”

Says Khanyile, “We liked Seed Engine’s emphasis on black women and youth-owned businesses. We were impressed that their programmes have trained 600 entrepreneurs, created and supported 300 enterprises and an average of three jobs per enterprise. Seed Engine has touch points at every step of the way of the business life-cycle from startup through to sustainable SMEs and successful suppliers.”

Rachelson said Seed Engine was impressed that some 180 000 rural women had benefited from WDB Trust loans worth more than R400-million, 3000 women had received literacy and basic business skills training, and over 300 permanent jobs had been created by the WDB Group since inception.

“Many people in South Africa were not raised in an entrepreneurial environment in which they were encouraged to take an idea and grow a business,” says Khanyile. “More than ever before, there is an urgency for young South Africans and female entrepreneurs in particular to be assisted in taking their ideas forward and build businesses. Our young people need jobs, and we need to help them create jobs for themselves, their families, and their communities.”

Ends

The WDB was started by a group of women who had a vision to make an impact in the lives of all women in South Africa, targeting the poorest and most neglected rural communities. The mission was to increase the participation of women in South Africa’s economy.

Grovest is South Africa’s first Venture Capital Company (VCC) incorporated under Section 12J of the Income Tax Act. An investment in Grovest affords investors direct exposure to the rapidly developing VC sector in South Africa, whilst enabling them to write off up to 100% of their investment capital against their taxable income in the year in which the investment is made.

Seed Academy is part of Seed Engine, one of the first ICT accelerators to launch in South Africa. It was established in Johannesburg in 2013 with a core offering of training and business development for startup entrepreneurs. Its offering has expanded to include impactful interventions for each stage of an entrepreneur’s development, thereby addressing the needs of socio-economic, skills development, enterprise and supplier development programmes. Its Cape Town office opened in January 2015, and a KwaZulu-Natal office will be opening soon.

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