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Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital
Context: Venture Capitalists (VCs) specialise in providing capital to new businesses with a short track record; however, new South African businesses still face high failure rates due to a lack of funding and insufficient entrepreneurial skills. Business incubators (BIs) aim to bridge this gap by pr...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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College of Accounting
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613153884372992 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Green, Allistair |
| author2 | De Jesus, Carlos |
| author_browse | De Jesus, Carlos Green, Allistair |
| author_facet | De Jesus, Carlos Green, Allistair |
| author_sort | Green, Allistair |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Context: Venture Capitalists (VCs) specialise in providing capital to new businesses with a short track record; however, new South African businesses still face high failure rates due to a lack of funding and insufficient entrepreneurial skills. Business incubators (BIs) aim to bridge this gap by providing support and resources to entrepreneurs to start and manage new businesses and access to capital, including venture capital. Purpose: This study assesses how South African BIs support entrepreneurs in preparing for venture capital funding. Research Design: The study is an exploratory qualitative study and employs an engaged scholarship approach and entrepreneurial ecosystem theory. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews, supplemented by a questionnaire with three key stakeholders: BIs, VCs, and entrepreneurs. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes and insights. Main findings: BIs can significantly impact entrepreneurs' ability to secure venture capital by providing tailored support and networking opportunities. Stifling this impact is the expectation gap between BIs and VCs, BI management expertise, insufficient quality entrepreneurs, and government policies that are mute on early-stage funding. Contribution: The research builds on existing literature and highlights BIs' critical role in the South African entrepreneurial ecosystem. It also provides insights to BIs and the government to aid the creation of a thriving entrepreneur ecosystem bolstered by increased VC participation. Recommendations and Implications: The BI-VC relationship should be strengthened and communication enhanced. BI management should actively increase their entrepreneurial expertise and skills while building programs that effectively enhance entrepreneurial skill development. The government should increase effective policies that create an environment for early-stage capital to thrive. Improving entrepreneur support can lead to higher new business success rates, contributing to economic growth and job creation in South Africa. Research limitations: The study's population was limited to the Western Cape, although some participants are involved in their role (entrepreneur, BI, or VC) throughout the country and some throughout Africa. Originality: This study uniquely explores the intersection of South African BIs and VCs to increase entrepreneurial success through improved BI support mechanisms. Adding to previous BI literature by including the VC and entrepreneur perspective, supplementing interviews with a questionnaire to corroborate results, grounding the study on a theoretical framework and collaborating with practitioners using the engaged scholarship approach, determining whether any changes occurred since previous studies, and exploring the industry for new success factors. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42249 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:35.974Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | College of Accounting |
| publisherStr | College of Accounting |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42249 Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital Green, Allistair De Jesus, Carlos business incubators business support early-stage funding entrepreneurship startup success venture capital Context: Venture Capitalists (VCs) specialise in providing capital to new businesses with a short track record; however, new South African businesses still face high failure rates due to a lack of funding and insufficient entrepreneurial skills. Business incubators (BIs) aim to bridge this gap by providing support and resources to entrepreneurs to start and manage new businesses and access to capital, including venture capital. Purpose: This study assesses how South African BIs support entrepreneurs in preparing for venture capital funding. Research Design: The study is an exploratory qualitative study and employs an engaged scholarship approach and entrepreneurial ecosystem theory. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews, supplemented by a questionnaire with three key stakeholders: BIs, VCs, and entrepreneurs. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes and insights. Main findings: BIs can significantly impact entrepreneurs' ability to secure venture capital by providing tailored support and networking opportunities. Stifling this impact is the expectation gap between BIs and VCs, BI management expertise, insufficient quality entrepreneurs, and government policies that are mute on early-stage funding. Contribution: The research builds on existing literature and highlights BIs' critical role in the South African entrepreneurial ecosystem. It also provides insights to BIs and the government to aid the creation of a thriving entrepreneur ecosystem bolstered by increased VC participation. Recommendations and Implications: The BI-VC relationship should be strengthened and communication enhanced. BI management should actively increase their entrepreneurial expertise and skills while building programs that effectively enhance entrepreneurial skill development. The government should increase effective policies that create an environment for early-stage capital to thrive. Improving entrepreneur support can lead to higher new business success rates, contributing to economic growth and job creation in South Africa. Research limitations: The study's population was limited to the Western Cape, although some participants are involved in their role (entrepreneur, BI, or VC) throughout the country and some throughout Africa. Originality: This study uniquely explores the intersection of South African BIs and VCs to increase entrepreneurial success through improved BI support mechanisms. Adding to previous BI literature by including the VC and entrepreneur perspective, supplementing interviews with a questionnaire to corroborate results, grounding the study on a theoretical framework and collaborating with practitioners using the engaged scholarship approach, determining whether any changes occurred since previous studies, and exploring the industry for new success factors. 2025-11-18T07:31:52Z 2025-11-18T07:31:52Z 2025 2025-11-18T07:29:54Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42249 en eng application/pdf College of Accounting Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | business incubators business support early-stage funding entrepreneurship startup success venture capital Green, Allistair Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital |
| title_full | Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital |
| title_fullStr | Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital |
| title_short | Exploring how South African business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital |
| title_sort | exploring how south african business incubators assist entrepreneurs in accessing venture capital |
| topic | business incubators business support early-stage funding entrepreneurship startup success venture capital |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42249 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT greenallistair exploringhowsouthafricanbusinessincubatorsassistentrepreneursinaccessingventurecapital |