Finance minister Gigaba announces R2.1bn fund for startups

Finance minister Malusi Gigaba announced at today’s 2018 Budget Speech that the government will set aside R2.1-billion for startups.

“Work is being done to provide crucial funding to innovative small businesses when they need it most,” said Gigaba.

“A fund with an allocation of R2.1-billion over the medium term is being developed between the Departments of Small Businesses and Science and Technology, and benefit small and medium enterprises during the early startup phase.”

“This is an area that has historically had limited support because of the risks involved,” he added.

The Departments of Small Business, Science and Technology are involved in setting up the R2.1-billion fund

This is the second time he has mentioned the startup fund, the first being last year in October during the 2017 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.

Read more: Four months on, what has become of the SA government’s startup fund?

There are questions however regarding the administration of the fund and its operational date.

Last month Ventureburn contacted the Treasury, the Department of Small Business Development and the Department of Science and Technology about the details of the fund but did not receive a detailed reply.

Featured image: Government ZA via Flickr (CC 2.0 BY-ND, resized)