For South
African
founders
Get access to the capital and mentors who have built, scaled, and sold their tech businesses internationally.
Apply now →Free to join. Active commitment required. Apply in 5 minutes.
Get access to the capital and mentors who have built, scaled, and sold their tech businesses internationally.
“I walked away with a breakthrough in my thinking. Amazing how a single conversation can break through some clouds.”
“I found the feedback confronting, but also incredibly helpful. The exact scrutiny I've been seeking. Great to have an investor's lens applied to our business.”
“That conversation genuinely shifted how we're thinking about the business. Really appreciate the time and the honesty.”
“We're incredibly grateful for being part of the Unleash community. It came at an important stage of our journey and we appreciate the time you've invested in sharing your thoughts, challenging our assumptions and helping us think through our current challenges.”
“This is genuinely the most detailed and constructive input I've received so far.”
“The Unleashed community has been extremely valuable to us and our business, the knowledge shared from Phil has helped us avoid a few battle scars”
“Thank you for sharing the analysis and for the time you put into the session. Both were more useful than I suspect you realised in the moment.”
“A complete rethink of how we sell — and a big thanks for the guidance and sharp insights along the way.”
“Thank you again for your time, candid feedback and the Unleash assessment.”
“Really glad I found this — I'll be active in the community and won't sit on anything alone if I get stuck.”
“We've used what I learned to reframe our strategy.”
The ecosystem doesn't need more advice. It needs people who have done it.
Philipp Ströhemann first landed in Cape Town in 2014 for a business school exchange, and never really left. He co-founded his first company with a South African partner that same year.
Over 15 years, Phil has built and scaled multiple businesses across B2B SaaS, marketplaces and tech-enabled services, from founding to exit: bootstrapping, building sales teams, scaling revenue, and selling to private equity.
Now he's putting that experience, and his own capital, behind the next generation of South African founders. He is not a fund manager, but someone who works alongside you on:
A peer group of operators who have built real companies, who show up when it matters.
Every insight comes from having built, scaled and exited. Not from reading about it.
Funded for South African reality and flexibility, not shoehorned into Silicon Valley playbooks.
SA rewards efficiency, not burn. Reach customers and revenue early, without fundraising dependency.
Every founder walks away with something useful, whether Unleash invests or not.
Tell us about your business, your stage and what you're building. Takes 5 minutes.
We review every application personally and come back to you before the next cohort starts. Applications close 15 days before each start.
WhatsApp community, playbooks, spreadsheets, GPT tools and the mentor network.
Three community calls, attend at least two. An honest assessment and a clear picture of your funding options.
We tell you whether there's an investment fit, and if not, why. Stay up to three quarters.
Community. Capital. Mentorship. Built for South African founders, funded for South African reality.