Community
& support

A free, application-only community built for the South African reality. Get help with the blockers in front of you today and find out whether you are investable. Talk to people who are already at the stage you want to reach, and get mentorship and advice when you need it. Where there is a fit, we introduce members to investors, including international ones.

Founder Q&As

Investors and operators answer founders' questions, live.

Founder Q&A · Fundraising
Raise to accelerate, not to survive
Sizwe Nxumalo, 3 Capital Ventures
Founder Q&A · AI
Your first agent-only company
Unleash Founder Q&A
Dinner Q&A · Fundraising
Funding models that actually work in South Africa
Unleash Dinner #1, Cape Town, Nov 2025

Talks

From the Bridging Borders evening and the Unleash dinners in Cape Town.

Bridging Borders talk
Township loan sharks charge 50% a month. Koola charges 5%
Oliver Stekhoven, Koola Capital
Bridging Borders talk
Banks ignore most South Africans
Idan Jaan, Flexclub
Bridging Borders talk
52% of a driver's earnings go back into the bike
Wahlied Cole, ScootHero
Bridging Borders talk
Nearly 30 ventures, one edge: founder quality
Louis Buys, The Delta
Highlights
South African founders, European capital
Bridging Borders, Cape Town, Feb 2026
Highlights
The biggest issue? Mentorship
Unleash Dinner #1, Cape Town, Nov 2025
Unleash Ventures
We build camels, not unicorns
Philipp Ströhemann, Unleash Ventures

What members
get

Every quarter

The Venture Assessment

An eleven-point questionnaire on the state of your business. The whole Unleash team reviews it and sends you feedback to act on.

Every two weeks

Q&A calls

Mentors from South Africa and abroad share what they learned. Two founders take the hot seat, thirty minutes each, and work through one live problem with the room.

Always on

The founder peer group

Founders at the same stage, in the same WhatsApp group, plus introductions to founders in your space.

When you need it

Mentor matching

Matched by sector and stage with operators who have built and sold companies.

Ongoing

The founder platform

Playbooks, spreadsheets, Claude skills and the progress board, in the Unleash app.

When it matters

One-to-one calls

Time with Phil and the team on the decision in front of you: raise now, from whom, or keep building.

Members-only
sessions

Members watch the recordings in the Unleash app.

#17Validation and the venture assessmentMembers onlyApply to watch →#16A design partner strategy that wins contractsMembers onlyApply to watch →#15Three failed ventures, and building the one that worksMembers onlyApply to watch →#14Measure what customers pay forMembers onlyApply to watch →#13What actually gets funded hereMembers onlyApply to watch →#12Hot seat: raising without having toMembers onlyApply to watch →#11Hot seat: validation, price and your second founderMembers onlyApply to watch →#10Selling, access and where to buildMembers onlyApply to watch →#9Q3 kick-offMembers onlyApply to watch →#8Sales cycles, qualifying buyers, funnels on no budgetMembers onlyApply to watch →#7Build your company brainMembers onlyApply to watch →#6Sales, early stage and enterpriseMembers onlyApply to watch →#5Early-stage validationMembers onlyApply to watch →#4Your first agent-only companyMembers onlyApply to watch →#3Reusable AI workflowsMembers onlyApply to watch →#2Claude Code for your startupMembers onlyApply to watch →#1Enterprise sales and go-to-marketMembers onlyApply to watch →

Get access to
every session