Building economic resilience through partnerships that support early-stage innovation in the start-up eco-system

This case study examines the GreenPitch Innovation Challenge 2019, a partnership between GreenCape, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), and the City of Cape Town's Invest Cape Town initiative. The program aimed to build economic resilience by supporting early-stage green SMMEs, providing them with networking opportunities, expert feedback, and business development support to overcome barriers such as information asymmetry and lack of resources.

• Green SMMEs in South Africa are critical for job creation and economic growth due to their agility, but they face significant challenges including information asymmetry, lack of coordination, and a shortage of key assets such as financial resources, networks, and tested technologies.
• The GreenPitch Innovation Challenge 2019 attracted over 40 nationwide entries, resulting in five finalists who pitched their innovations at a 'shark tank-style' event in Cape Town on 12 December 2019. The winner, Nubrix, received in-kind business development support valued at R 30,000.
• Supporting early-stage green innovation strengthens local economic resilience by facilitating peer-to-peer interaction within the fragmented cleantech community, creating industry partnerships with investors and government officials, and providing targeted business support to emerging entrepreneurs.

APA

GreenCape (2020). Building economic resilience through partnerships that support early-stage innovation in the start-up eco-system. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Case-Study-GreenPitch-Challenge-2020-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Building economic resilience through partnerships that support early-stage innovation in the start-up eco-system. 2020. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Case-Study-GreenPitch-Challenge-2020-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Building economic resilience through partnerships that support early-stage innovation in the start-up eco-system |date=2020 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Case-Study-GreenPitch-Challenge-2020-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencape2020building, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Building economic resilience through partnerships that support early-stage innovation in the start-up eco-system}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2020}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Case-Study-GreenPitch-Challenge-2020-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }