Venture Studios in South Africa: Models & Comparison

Venture building is one of the strongest ecosystem enablers in South Africa. Venture builders play a crucial role in helping local startups grow while reducing reliance on foreign investors. However, South African startups face persistent economic headwinds that slow their growth and contribute to the high rate of exits across the country’s startup landscape.

As South Africa adjusts to a new government of national unity (GNU) and navigates ongoing economic challenges, venture builders are becoming a vital part of the startup scene. But what exactly is venture building?

What is Venture Building?

Venture building is the structured process of creating and scaling new businesses using a holistic, hands-on approach. It provides more than just mentorship—offering funding, strategic support, and expert execution capabilities to help founders turn ideas into thriving companies.

When this approach is formalised and applied at scale, it results in what is known as a venture studio.

What are Venture Studios?

Venture studios are organisations that create and build multiple startups simultaneously. Rather than focusing on one idea at a time, they employ experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and subject-matter experts to co-develop ventures from the ground up.

Thanks to their integrated approach, venture studios function not only as startup creators but also as ecosystem enablers—supporting entrepreneurs from ideation through to market entry and scale.

In this article, we explore how venture studios work, how they differ from accelerators and incubators, and highlight leading examples in South Africa.

How Venture Studios Differ from Accelerators and Incubators

The venture studio model is quite different from incubators and accelerators in various ways:

Business model: A venture studio helps entrepreneurs build new startups from scratch. The studio creates and develops multiple startups in parallel, while incubators and accelerators help existing external startups grow and develop.

Resources: Venture studios provide new startups with deep operational resources such as funding, office space, and an expert team. Incubators and accelerators also provide these resources; however, they don’t provide as much financial support and expertise as venture studios.

Ownership: Venture studios take an equity stake in the startups they co-create. In most cases, incubators and accelerators do not take any ownership of the startups they support.

Scaling strategy: Venture studios aim to scale multiple startups at the same time, while accelerators and incubators focus on a few startups per programme cycle. 

Goals: Studios aim to build and scale ventures with long-term success in mind. Accelerators help startups rapidly develop their product and achieve traction. Incubators focus on preparing early-stage businesses for future growth or investment.

Venture studios offer a more hands-on approach to developing and scaling multiple startups, whereas accelerators and incubators are focused on developing external startups over time.

Pros and Cons of Venture Studios

Being part of a venture studio has its own advantages and disadvantages for startups.

Benefits of Joining a Venture Studio

Vast expertise: A significant advantage of working with a venture studio is the access it provides to a network of seasoned entrepreneurs. These studios typically have professionals in areas such as business development, design, product development and management, technology and marketing. As an entrepreneur you will benefit from their collective experience and specialised knowledge, making it easier to navigate the startup development journey.

Streamlined execution: Building a startup from scratch is more than just having an idea – you need disciplined execution. Venture studios come with established processes which turn ideas into viable businesses, providing operational support and helping speed up product development.

Financial support: Venture studios provide funding from early-stage and sometimes all the way up to growth stage. This seed funding is critical to getting startups from the idea phase without the burden of finding investors.

Networking and connections: Joining a studio connects founders with a wide network of investors, potential hires, and strategic partners—accelerating business development and scaling.

Reduced risk: The strategic approach by venture studios reduces uncertainty and risk often associated with new ventures. The expertise of the studio’s team helps startups navigate the ups and downs of businesses and avoid common mistakes.

Challenges of Working with Venture Studios

Loss of control: Venture studios take an equity stake in the startups they develop, which often comes with a say in the startup’s operations and strategic direction. This can be a dealbreaker for those who value complete autonomy.

Equity dilution and cost: While studios invest capital, they do so in exchange for equity—sometimes at levels that feel high to founders. Additional service costs can also add up.

Limited focus: As studios develop multiple startups simultaneously, not every startup may receive the attention it needs—particularly if it requires a highly tailored approach. 

Vision misalignment: If a founder’s vision doesn’t align with the studio’s goals or processes, this can create friction. Studios often operate with set methods and may not be flexible.

Long-term complications: Separating from a venture studio can be difficult because the model typically means they are involved throughout the duration of your startup. If the relationship becomes strained or priorities shift, this could lead to complications down the line.

Different Types of Venture Studios

Not all venture studios fall under the same blueprint. Here are some other types you should be aware of:

Independent venture studios

Independent venture studios generate ideas internally or partner with very early-stage startups. Independent studios can have outside investors but always make the final decision on which startups to invest in.

Resources provided by independent studios such as investment capital and a team of experienced entrepreneurs are needed to build and launch startups. Within independent studio model are two other subtypes:

Niche studios – Focus on building startups within a specific industry (such as fintech) and use the knowledge and expertise in the studio.

Industry-wide studios – These studios build startups within any industry, which means they can develop an accounting software startup and wearables software company at the same time.

Tech transfer studios

Tech transfer studios work with government agencies, private companies, and research organisations to get ideas that can be turned into new companies. They transfer intellectual property (IP) from the entity that did the initial research to the new companies within their studio where it gets developed.

Once the tech transfer studio has the IP, it assembles a team of engineers and business experts to refine the tech and develop a viable product made for market.

Corporate venture studios

Corporate venture studios function as innovation arms for large corporations. Large enterprises struggling with investing in new ideas will create their own venture studio and provide funding, broad strategic direction, industry knowledge and access to distribution channels.

Leading Venture Studios in South Africa

Here are some of the venture studios currently operating in South Africa.

Founders Factory

Founders Factory (now 54 Collective) acts not only as a startup accelerator but also as a venture studio. Through its venture studio the organisation partners with entrepreneurs to develop new ideas, technologies and business models into high-growth companies. The company has various studio partners including Aviva, Vonovia, Mediobanca and Pico. 

Earlier this year, it was announced that the venture studio would cease its operations in Africa following the conclusion of its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

Far Ventures

Far Ventures is a Cape Town-based venture studio focused on supporting tech entrepreneurs in Africa. It provides funding, operational support, and recruitment assistance to scale startups through to their first external funding round.

Notable startups in its portfolio include FinChatBot, Yethu, and Spoon Money.

The Delta

Also based in Cape Town, The Delta operates a multi-partner studio model, linking experienced operator-investors with high-potential founders. The studio builds ventures internally and offers shared workspace facilities, support teams, and strategic guidance.

Yenza Venture Studio (by Octoco)

Yenza Venture Studio helps early-stage, tech-enabled startups evolve from ideas into market-ready solutions. The studio provides technical support, investment readiness guidance, and infrastructure.

Startups supported by Yenza include Henlo Coffee, Intelligent Safe Technologies, Picklogger, and Biocode.

Venture studios are becoming a powerful force within South Africa’s evolving startup ecosystem. Their comprehensive approach—spanning ideation, funding, execution, and scaling—can provide the much-needed support many entrepreneurs seek.