{"id":692371,"date":"2026-07-15T04:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/692371\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T04:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:23:19","slug":"mr-price-foundation-opens-applications-for-bindzu-youth-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/692371\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr Price Foundation opens applications for Bindzu Youth Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mr Price Foundation is inviting young South African entrepreneurs to apply for the second cohort of the Bindzu Youth Fund by 17 July 2026.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The inaugural Bindzu Youth Fund cohort culminated in a national pitching competition, in which entrepreneur Kamogelo Selepe, founder of the AI-powered marketing and technology business ArcaneEdge, was awarded the programme’s top prize of R1m. Image supplied.<\/p>\n

The programme provides emerging businesses with access to skills, networks, and funding opportunities to support growth.<\/p>\n

\"ImageWhy SA’s youth shouldn’t waste the circular economy opportunity<\/a>Duduzile Mathabela\u00a0 19\u00a0May\u00a02026Training meets funding<\/p>\n

The Bindzu Youth Fund is a multi-stage entrepreneurship development programme that combines practical business training, mentorship, coaching, business diagnostics and funding opportunities.<\/p>\n

Designed for youth-owned businesses with high growth potential, the programme aims to strengthen entrepreneurs’ capabilities, improve business sustainability and support the creation of employment opportunities in local communities.<\/p>\n

The inaugural Bindzu Youth Fund cohort culminated in a national pitching competition, in which entrepreneur Kamogelo Selepe, founder of the AI-powered marketing and technology business ArcaneEdge, was awarded the programme’s top prize of R1m.<\/p>\n

Alongside her, 26 entrepreneurs from across the country also secured funding to help grow their businesses.<\/p>\n

\"MrMr Price awards R1m prize to AI entrepreneur<\/a>Opening doors<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Africa has no shortage of young people with innovative business ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge is often accessing the knowledge, networks and opportunities that allow those businesses to grow beyond the start-up phase,\u201d said Duduzile Mathabela, entrepreneurship development programme manager for the Mr Price Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the Bindzu Youth Fund, we want to open doors that many young entrepreneurs struggle to access on their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough combining practical business development with mentorship, funding opportunities and long-term support, we are helping build businesses that can create jobs, strengthen local economies and contribute meaningfully to South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”<\/p>\n

\"MrMr Price Foundation’s pattern-making graduates bolster localisation efforts<\/a>Programme details<\/p>\n

The programme begins with an online business academy for up to 1,000 entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

From there, businesses will be selected to participate in intensive bootcamps, business diagnostics, expert mentorship, coaching and pitching opportunities.<\/p>\n

The top 27 businesses, representing three businesses from each province, will share in more than R3m in funding, with further opportunities to compete for additional investment and receive post-programme support.<\/p>\n

To qualify, applicants must be aged 18 to 34, own at least 51% of a business operating in South Africa for at least 12 months, have an annual turnover of less than R5m, and show commitment and potential to grow their business.<\/p>\n

Applications can be made here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mr Price Foundation is inviting young South African entrepreneurs to apply for the second cohort of the Bindzu…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[84,4203,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-692371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}