While South Africa’s economy is expected to grow by around 1% this year amid persistent unemployment, constrained investment conditions and uncertain geopolitics, a group of locally founded high-growth companies is expanding at more than 40 times that rate, creating quality local jobs, attracting capital, and scaling into global markets from their South African roots.
These companies form part of Endeavor South Africa, the local chapter of the global organisation that supports high-impact entrepreneurs through access to markets, strategic networks, mentorship, and capital. They are also classified as Endeavor Outliers, the top 10% of companies across Endeavor’s global network, recognised for exceptional performance across metrics including revenue growth, scale, market reach, and execution.
Their growth demonstrates the role that high-growth entrepreneurship can play in driving economic growth, job creation and competitiveness in South Africa.
“They also demonstrate that innovation-led growth can be environment-agnostic. Even in difficult economic conditions, businesses with strong execution capability, scalable technology, and clear market relevance are still able to grow rapidly, create jobs, and compete globally,” says Alison Collier, Managing Director of Endeavor South Africa.
Endeavor’s selection criteria for an Outlier is defined as achieving one of the following thresholds (revisited each year): more than US$100 million in net revenue with a three-year CAGR of more than 20%; more than US$50 million in net revenue with a three-year CAGR of more than 90%; more than US$30 million in net revenue with a three-year CAGR of more than 300%; or a valuation exceeding US$1 billion within the last three years.
Endeavor’s latest South African Outliers include:
- GoTymeBank, which reached more than 10 million customers in South Africa in under six years. It now has 21 million customers globally, and is expanding across Asia. Parent company TymeGroup achieved unicorn status in 2024 with a valuation of US$1.5 billion. It has 2200 employees.
- Onafriq, one of Africa’s largest digital payments networks, operating across 43 countries and connecting more than one billion mobile wallets. The company has raised more than US$200 million and underpins digital financial infrastructure across the continent. It has 600 employees.
- Go1, a workplace learning platform serving users in more than 160 countries, which has raised more than US$400 million in funding. It has 550 employees.
- Hello Paisa, a cross-border remittance and financial services platform connecting South Africa to more than 35 countries across Africa, Asia and beyond, helping migrant communities move money more affordably and efficiently. It has 1200 employees.
- Pineapple, a fast-growing insurtech business that raised R400 million in 2023 in what was Africa’s largest insurtech funding round at the time. It has over 230 employees.
Collectively, these five companies generated approximately R11billion in net revenue in 2025, serve more than 25 million customers directly, reach more than 1 billion users across more than 100 countries, and have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in growth capital in recent years.
Collier says the performance of these companies highlights the type of business models capable of delivering meaningful growth and employment in South Africa.
“These businesses share several common characteristics. They are founder-led, technology-enabled, capital-efficient, globally ambitious from inception, and focused on solving large, practical mass market problems. Importantly, they are building products and services that improve affordability and the cost to serve customers at scale, accessibility, and efficiency for millions of people, particularly in sectors where traditional infrastructure has historically struggled to meet demand efficiently, ” says Collier.
South Africa accounts for 46% of Africa’s Endeavor Outliers, a reflection of the country’s continued ability to produce globally competitive founders and scale-up businesses. The strong local performance also aligns with broader venture capital trends highlighted in Partech’s 2025 Africa report, which identified South Africa as one of the continent’s most active and resilient venture ecosystems.
According to the report, South African venture funding increased by 21% year-on-year in 2025 to approximately US$715 million in equity and debt funding.
Partech noted that: “South Africa clearly led the equity market in 2025, ranking first by equity funding volume (+40% YoY) by a wide margin. It also regained the top position in equity deal count (+5% YoY), making 2025 the first year since 2017 in which South Africa leads the way in terms of both equity funding and equity deal activity in Africa, underscoring a renewed depth and maturity in its ecosystem.”
Endeavor South Africa’s own portfolio data further demonstrates the broader economic contribution of scale-up businesses. Between 2021 and 2025, 27 Endeavor-supported entrepreneurs achieved average annual revenue growth of 29%, generating an additional R12 billion in revenue and creating 5,156 new jobs. Of those jobs, 75% were filled by Black South Africans, 80% by young people, and 55% by women.
Collier says the broader lesson is that South Africa needs more businesses capable of scaling in this way if the country wants to meaningfully accelerate economic growth and employment.
“These companies are important because they show what is possible. They are creating high-quality jobs, attracting international investment, building globally relevant technology, and expanding Africa’s participation in the global innovation economy,” she says.
“If South Africa wants faster growth and greater employment absorption, we need to create the conditions for many more high-growth businesses to emerge and scale successfully.”
Collier says this requires a stronger enabling environment for entrepreneurship and innovation, including improved digital and logistics infrastructure, easier access to growth capital, regulatory certainty, skills development, and greater support for businesses expanding into regional and global markets.
“South Africa has exceptional entrepreneurial talent. The opportunity now is to ensure that high-growth businesses can scale faster and more sustainably. The more we enable these companies to thrive, the greater the impact on growth, competitiveness, investment, and jobs.”
Globally, Endeavor supports more than 2,900 entrepreneurs leading over 1,600 companies across 45 markets. Those companies collectively generate US$88.5 billion in annual revenue and support more than 4.1 million jobs worldwide.