SUMMARISED REPORT 2020

The 29th of September 2020 saw 20 female-led

start-ups pitching their business cases to potential

investors during a Demo Day. These women were part of

Fem-In-Tech – a female-focused entrepreneurship development

programme for South African women facilitated by the Small Enterprise

Development Agency (SEDA), in collaboration with the SA Innovation Summit.

The Fem-In-Tech Development Programme aims to equip female entrepreneurs who

own tech and tech-enabled start-ups with entrepreneurial and investor pitching skills. The programme

leveraged the skills, expertise and networks of the Small Enterprise Development Agency and the SA

Innovation Summit to coordinate the country call, 5 online regional training sessions, 2-month virtual

pitching course, and investor database development and matching.

THE PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAMME WAS TO: • Identify and support female entrepreneurs throughout the country with launching and growing

their businesses,

• Develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills,

• Improve and level-up their virtual pitches,

• Build a network of female entrepreneurs from across the country , and

• Facilitate matching with potential funders.

THE OVERALL FEEDBACK RECEIVED INDICATED THAT: • Many businesses were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and had to pivot their business model.

• The programme and training were valuable as over 80% of participants reported:

• They learnt and developed pitching skills,

• Their skills to pitch to potential investors and customers improved considerably,

• They understood their product and business model better.

• Exposure and partnerships through the Summit to support business growth was reported to be

consistently the greatest value and it led to concrete deals.

• The total for the Fem-in-Tech programme amounts then to R 32 207 000.00 of offers made due to

meetings and connections made at the SA Innovation Summit.

PARTICIPANTS RECOMMENDED THE FOLLOWING: • Different types of funding instruments and how to access/raise them, e.g., debt financing can be

added to the course.

• A greater emphasis on preparing a business development pitch can be added to the training.

Preparing a business pitch is different form an investor’s pitch.

THROUGHOVERALL BUSINESS GROWTH

Pitch & Market Training

New Networks &Partnerships

Development of New Skills

Market Exposure & PR

Connections to Funding

Afrobotix | Makhosazana MoyoTraining helped improve confidence to pitch and

engage with potential clients.

GT Advisory | Sihaam Salie-AbrahamsTraining was very helpful – learnt to pitch to investors.

iCALC Training Academy | Mylene Bosch Training was helpful. It was the first time I was

exposed to pitching, so I learned a lot. Learned to

understand what someone is looking for, promoted

that, and improved my presentation skills.

Lingo Locate | Joanna McDonnell Training was not useful for me as I was very

advanced. Although, the Demo Day forced me to

improve my pitch – compiling and live pitching.

Comments and feedback were useful.

Kweza Technology | Ropafadzo Musvaire Developed pitching skills and networks to pitch to.