YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge seeks young Capetonian businesses

The YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge offers Cape Town businesses cash awards, mentoring and growth opportunities.

The YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge aims to stimulate entrepreneurship and job creation. Image: Ronald Carreño/ Pixabay

The YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge, the City of Cape Town’s annual start-up accelerator programme, is looking for participants for the 2025 edition. In its newsletter on 26 February, the City invited young Capetonian businesspeople to apply by 16 March.

Competition offers funding and mentorship

The YouthStartCT programme offers winning businesses mentorship, training in business skills and seed funding. These prizes are customised for each winning business. In 2024 Khula Cosmetics, run by Charnelle Davids, won the existing business category and received R20 000. The city does not take equity in the winning businesses.

The challenge will take place over several rounds, with applicants eliminated each week. Last year, three existing businesses and five new business ideas were recognised as winners. Furthermore, entrants outside the top 100 will also benefit from further training.

Existing business winners in 2024

The 2024 YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge awarded three winners with existing businesses:

Charnelle Davids – Khula Cosmetics
Katlego Montewa – Promage Consulting
Yanga Ngcayisa – YNOT Health

Business ideas winners in 2024

For new business ideas, there was one winner in each category:

Manufacturing: Siphokuhle Mcotshana – Mcotshana Holding
Agriculture: Chad Wyngaard – Hydroponic Solar Container Farming
Finance and Business Services: Prince Malandela Masimini – Sip Spot Café
Information Technology (IT): Oratile Keamogetse Mojaki – Connect Student
Tourism: Wilmarie January – Tour Operator – Cape Tourian

YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge promotes jobs and entrepreneurship

With this start-up accelerator, the City aims to support skills development, innovation and entrepreneurial culture in Cape Town. It also hopes that by growing businesses, more jobs will be created. The City will partner with the overall winner of the YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge on various programmes for jobseekers.

“Thriving businesses need employees and resources, which opens doors for others seeking employment, and ultimately helps stimulate our local economy,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Francine Higham in a statement earlier this month. The City of Cape Town’s Community Services and Health Directorate is supporting the competition, as well as other internal and external partners.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released by Statistics South Africa in February, indicated that 8 million South Africans are unemployed. Youth aged between 15-34 years shoulder much of the jobs crisis, with 4.7 million young people jobless in the country.

Who can enter the start-up competition?

The YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge is open to business owners aged 18-35 who are from the Cape Town Metro. Business teams from other parts of the country can apply, so long as the main team member is from Cape Town and most of the business activities take place within Cape Town. Both new ideas and existing start-up businesses not older than three years qualify.

The business must fit into one of these five categories to qualify for the competition:

Agriculture / farming
Manufacturing
Information technology (IT)
Finance and business services
Tourism

How to enter the YouthStartCT Entrepreneurial Challenge?

Aspiring participants should produce a three-minute video that explains their business concept in detail. This must be uploaded to a public platform like YouTube, with the link added to an entry form. There are also several written questions. Entrants need to show that their idea can turn a profit. The entry form is available on the City’s website. The last date to enter is Sunday, 16 March.