Nationwide SA digital procurement, funding tour to kick off next month

A nationwide digital procurement and funding tour aimed at helping entrepreneurs to source opportunities and finance, is set to kick off on 8 June at The Innovation Hub in Pretoria.

The tour is an initiative of Pretoria-based entrepreneur platform Thriving.Network, in partnership with events and marketing agency InTouch Africa and the Southern Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (Savca).

The tour, which will run into 2020, will be hosted by GEM Media Group founder Lebo Gunguluza (pictured above) and Thriving.Network founder and co-CEO Lerato Dontache.

Gunguluza said in a statement on Tuesday (14 May) that the tour seeks to provide small businesses with opportunities to access the digital economy, funding and helps small firms to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The digital procurement and funding tour will be hosted by Lebo Gunguluza and Lerato Dontache

The tour will feature seminars and workshops which will be held once a month on Saturdays in different cities and provinces around South Africa.

The events will bring together leaders in the field of entrepreneurship, including experts in e-commerce, e-funding and e-procurement, among others.

Attendees of these events will also get the opportunity to pitch their business ideas, procurement, as well as funding.

The events will also provide attendees with training on topics that include the best platforms to use for their businesses, key performance indicators (KPIs).

Savca CEO Tanya Van Lill, ProfitShare Partners’ Andrew Maren, and Lehumo Investments’ Maudi Lentsoane are some of the speakers who are expected to give insights during the tour.

Thriving.Network content co-ordinator Abram Molelemane told Ventureburn earlier this week that the tour was borne out of a realisation that a lot of businesses struggle to access funding for their businesses.

Molelemane said not only are most businesses unaware about where and how to access funding, but they are also clueless about the factors involved when seeking for funding.

“We realised that entrepreneurs need to educate themselves about seeking and applying for funding, for example the different types of funding available, what funders or investors look for, how they prepare themselves to be investment ready and so on,” he said.

Tour dates

The tour’s launch event on 8 June in Pretoria will also include the launch of the Thriving Marketplace, a platform designed to help buyers discover credible suppliers.

Thereafter, the dates for the tour are as follows:

• Port Elizabeth: 20 July
• Durban: 3 August
• Johannesburg: 7 September
• Limpopo: 6 October
• Free State: 16 November
• Western Cape: 22 February 2020
• Sun City: 4 March 2020
• Mpumalanga: 8 April 2020
• Kimberley: 20 May 2020

Those interested in attending Digital Procurement & Funding Tour events can get more information here.

The tour will be supported by The Innovation Hub and the Department of Small Business Development. Other tour partners are the Department of Science and Technology, NXA Technology, Simodisa, Uprise.Africa, Liberty, Adinah Capital Partners, MTN and Alexander Forbes.

Featured image: GEM Media Group founder and Digital Procurement & Funding Tour host Lebo Gunguluza (Supplied)