Founders Dinner 2020 Edition Emphasises Farming
Though the Founders Dinner has not always been industry-focused, it took the crisis from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to waken the need to look into channels that can assist the country reduce its import bill.
The Founders Dinner series, which has always sought to engage aspiring farmers who want to venture into agribusiness, will through their upcoming edition take on the challenge.
According to its founder Matshego Lethola, the series has not been industry-focused but was always open to different industries. He said the lockdown has enlightened him more about the importance of farming and its value chain, which can create employment.
“It is time to put more emphasis on farming to help reduce the import bill. As the youth we do have the capability and sometimes need the motivation. It is important to encourage entrepreneurs, who are aspiring farmers, to be supporting them to build the infrastructure,” he said.
The session will feature prominent business people who are farmers, supermarkets, who want to venture into agribusiness.
“Conversations will basically be about how to get started as an aspiring farmer because most youth do have the passion to start farming but do encounter challenges during the process and without mentoring they end up losing interest,” he said.
Since inception, the sessions have hosted business magnates amongst others Base Sebonego, Tonderai Tsara, Samuel Mpuchane, Ebrahim Mohamed, Regina Vaka-Sikalesele and Mompoloki Mogobe amongst others.
Lethola told BusinessMonitor it was after he realised that most of the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need to be mentored and can expand through the right networks. According to Lethola, the platform exposed aspiring entrepreneurs and SMEs to resourceful information, ideas, leads, business opportuni emotional support, even goodwill trust and cooperation.
“We are passionate about helping founders, entrepreneurs and start-ups to succeed. We intend to make their business journey less lonely, more connected and more memorable,” he said.
From a cocktail reception to a sit-down dinner, the evening provides the perfect opportunity for business founders, business managers, venture capitalists, creatives, aspiring entrepreneurs and freelancers to sit together and build meaningful relationships.
In addition, Lethola said that the event offers a platform to discuss business challenges, ideas and network with fellow business leaders, pioneers and other stakeholders of note in their different spheres.
Through the sessions, startups also get the opportunity to pitch their ideas before these investors who then decide if they can invest some capital, mentorship or business startup toolkit. To date some businesses have successfully found funding while some have been offered mentoring.