The Big Pitch 2025, South Africa’s first-ever US $1 million startup pitch competition, has been announced by Startup Club ZA in collaboration with The South African Future Trust.
Twenty of the most promising startups in South Africa will face off live on stage over the course of the next six months in an attempt to secure funding for their ventures, as well as priceless media exposure and access to elite partners.
There will be three main stages to the competition. Two regional qualifiers will be held in Johannesburg (April) and Cape Town (August), with ten startups competing in each. The top five startups from each qualifier will go to the South African Future Trust Summit grand final, which will be held in October at the Sandton Convention Centre.
“Core to our mission is spotlighting the exceptional startups, founders and solutions that are emerging across South Africa,” said Mathew Marsden, founder of Startup Club ZA. “The Big Pitch 2025 is more than just a pitch event for significant investment – it’s a platform to showcase our country’s most promising tech entrepreneurs and uncover the immense untapped potential within our innovation ecosystem.”
Businesses must exhibit disruptive innovation, commercial scalability, and the capacity to use technology to address important issues in order to be eligible. As long as they fulfill the requirements, startups from all over the world are welcome to apply.
Applications for the first qualifier in Johannesburg close on April 8.
