Despite the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and other shocks to our economy, there are green shoots of growth in some sectors - this includes, for example, small businesses who have focussed on ecommerce and digital services. Capitalising on and funding this growth potential will be key to rebuilding the local economy. With this in [...]
Our Design Innovation Seed Fund (DISF), in its current active rounds of funding, has supported nine projects to date through grants of over R4m in total. The funding has enabled these projects to reach important development milestones with their innovations. The DISF funds designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers with pre-revenue innovative technologies and tech-enabled [...]
Image above: Barrydale Hand Weavers The third quarter of 2020/21 has so far been the best quarter yet for the CDI’s Growth Fund with 156 new employee contracts signed by the participating businesses. In total there are 22 SMMEs on the Growth Fund who have created 391 new jobs, putting the project 35% ahead of [...]
The CDI has over the past two months approved applications and is contracting for R7.5m in COVID-19 Relief Aid financial support with the businesses on the CDI Growth Fund. In addition, training and business advisory services have been made available to the business owners to help them through the challenges brought on by the pandemic. [...]
The Craft and Design Institute (CDI) has secured R9.5m of COVID-19 relief funding for businesses it supports as part of its CDI Growth Fund. The CDI Growth Fund is a grant fund specifically for growing South African small businesses who need a cash injection. The Growth Fund is managed by CDI Capital, which was incorporated [...]
Cape Town based technology start-up Vula Mobile has been on the digital frontline in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. A recipient of CDI’s Design Innovation Seed Fund (DISF) grant funding, Vula’s interventions have been numerous, including a National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) helpline for healthcare workers; a public facing hotline with 400 Volunteers; and creating a [...]
Applications are now open for the Design Innovation Seed Fund (DISF) – Western Cape based designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers with pre-revenue innovations can apply for grant funding of up to R800 000. The DISF is a project of the Craft and Design Institute (CDI) with investment funds provided by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). [...]
Above: Namekhotha Trading (Pty) Ltd in Kuruman has created 30 jobs to date The CDI Growth Fund received a further 318 applications during its mid-2019 call window and the Fund is due to complete contracts with the final set of small businesses who will benefit from the CDI’s current funding allocation to scale up and [...]
The CDI’s Design Innovation Seed Fund (DISF) is currently in its third round of funding and is supporting five local innovations – the grant funding has enabled these businesses to reach important development milestones and has helped them to unlock further investment from the private sector. The DISF funds designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers [...]
Above: Pesto Princess is one of the current recipients of the CDI Growth Fund (http://pesto.co.za/) A new application round has opened for the R12.8million CDI Growth Fund to boost SME growth and job creation. The CDI Growth Fund is a grant fund specifically for growing South African small businesses who need a cash injection to [...]
