Good morning
Welcome to Ten Thousand Businesses.
Profile strength
A complete profile is what lets us match you to funding. Every step opens more programmes.
Complete these steps to see your funding
Start here. Each one takes a few minutes and unlocks something real.
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💬 Chats
WhatsApp-easy messaging with AI smart replies, voice notes and one-tap video calls.
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Networking
Find members, connect, and share opportunities.
Your network
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Members you could work with
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Shared opportunities
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▣ My Digital Business Card
Your unique QR code — scan to connect, follow, message or book a meeting instantly.
Your name
Founder
Add your sector and city in your profile
✓ Verified MemberQR code…
When someone scans your code they can:
📶 Works offline — scans sync when you reconnect.
🛡 Investor Portal
Register, get verified, and access South Africa's screened deal flow. R1 500 per year — includes full document downloads.
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A mandate is a funder’s stated willingness to review qualifying deals from this platform, up to the amount shown. It is not money held by Ten Thousand Businesses and is not a commitment to fund any business.
Verification protects entrepreneurs and unlocks document downloads. 10 Thousand Businesses reviews submissions within 2 business days (KYC/AML).
- View matched deals
- View documents in-browser (watermarked)
- Message entrepreneurs
- ✗ No downloads
- ✗ No data room export
- Everything in Browse
- Download all documents
- Full data room access
- Verified ✓ badge — entrepreneurs prioritise you
- AI-recommended deals & alerts
- Pitch Day invitations
- Syndicate participation
A 2.5% success fee is payable by the funder on money actually advanced, under a separate written agreement. It is never deducted from the business, and no fee applies to grants. Downloads are watermarked and logged; entrepreneurs see who accessed their documents.
Application submitted
Payment received (R1 500 / year). You can browse and view deals now — downloads unlock the moment your verification is approved. You'll be notified by push and WhatsApp.
✦ Based on your mandate I've already found 4 matching projects — they're waiting in your deal feed.
🚀 Raise Funding — Load Your Project
Four simple steps. Your project goes in front of matched, verified investors. Funds flow directly to you. You are not charged a success fee — the funder pays us 2.5% of what they advance, and it is never taken off your money. Grants carry no fee at all.
Attach what you have — you can start with just a pitch deck and add the rest later. Documents stay in your private Data Room; you control which investor sees what.
By submitting you confirm the information is accurate. Investors commit funds directly to your business. Ten Thousand Businesses facilitates the introduction and invoices the funder a 2.5% success fee on money actually advanced, under an agreement between us and them. You are not charged and you are not a party to it. No fee is payable on grants. This is not a public offer of securities.
Your project is live!
I've matched your project against active investor mandates: 3 investors fit your sector, stage and ticket size. They'll be notified now. Adding 12 months of financials would lift your score to ~85 and unlock 2 more funds.
Investor Hub
Showcase your business, meet verified investors and run due diligence. The funder pays our 2.5% success fee, not you, and only on money actually advanced. Load a project
Matched investors
Your pipeline
Data room
Access log
Traction
Investor Pitch DayFree · sponsored
Pitch live to our panel of verified investors — 10 minutes to pitch, 5 minutes of questions, recorded and added to your profile. Slots are free to entrepreneurs, funded by our partners.
Become a mentor
Share your experience with South African entrepreneurs. You set your own rates.
The mentor agreement
1. Registration. A once-off fee of R1 000 is payable to Ten Thousand Businesses on registration. Your listing goes live once the fee is received and your application is verified.
2. Commission. Ten Thousand Businesses charges 5% of every amount you invoice a client introduced through the platform, subject to a minimum of R150 per charge.
3. Your rates. You set and control what you charge. The platform commission is never disclosed to your mentees.
4. Conduct. You agree to act professionally, keep mentee information confidential, and disclose any conflict of interest.
5. Verification. Ten Thousand Businesses may verify your credentials and may suspend a listing where standards are not met.
6. Independence. You are an independent professional, not an employee or agent of Ten Thousand Businesses. The platform facilitates introductions only.
Application received
Pay the once-off registration fee to activate your listing. Our team then verifies your application, usually within 2 business days.
Mentorship
Verified mentors, matched to what your business actually needs.
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Learning Academy
Work through courses at your own pace. Complete one and print your certificate.
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My certificates
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▤ Events
Digital tickets, QR check-in, live agendas and attendee networking.
Pitch Days, webinars and the annual Expo appear here as they are announced. They are free to entrepreneurs and funded by our partners.
Services
Advertise what you do, show your availability, and find members you can work with or refer.
Services offered by members
AI Business Coach
Ask about funding, compliance or growing your business. The Coach searches our researched answers and every funding programme we track.
Try one of these
Take it further
Funding Centre
Grants, loans, invoice and purchase-order finance, and corporate development programmes — matched to what you actually need.
Most things called “grants” in South Africa are not grants. We label every single record so you never waste weeks applying for a loan when you wanted free money — and never mistake a loan for one.
What do you need?
This is the most important question on the page. An entrepreneur with a purchase order and an entrepreneur with an idea are not in the same market, even when the amount is identical.
Matched to your business
Closing soon
My applications
Every record shows when it was last checked and where the information came from. Funding programmes change constantly — always confirm on the funder's own website before you rely on anything here. Ten Thousand Businesses does not decide who receives funding.
Your funding details
The more of this we know, the better we can tell you what you qualify for — and what is stopping you.
What you are looking for
Three questions that change everything
Your business
Supply chain
Become a certified supplier, or post what you need and reach verified businesses.
Your supplier status
Your supplier profile
Compliance — recorded as you supply it
Ten Thousand Businesses does not verify or certify B-BBEE status. Only a SANAS-accredited agency may issue a B-BBEE certificate, and enterprises under R10 million turnover use a sworn affidavit. We record what you supply and show buyers where it came from.
Certification tiers
Each tier is valid for 12 months. Buyers filter by tier — higher tiers appear first and are eligible for larger contracts.
Opportunities matching your profile
◷ Compliance
Every deadline your business has, worked out from your own registration details. Reminders, not a compliance certificate.
Membership
Free to get ready. You pay at the point you apply, refer, or open your data room to somebody outside 10TB.
How we make money — in plain words
When a funder we introduced you to actually advances money to your business, the funder pays us 2.5% of what they advanced. It is invoiced to them after disbursement, under an agreement signed between that funder and Ten Thousand Businesses.
It is never deducted from your money and you are not a party to it. Whatever the funder approves is what reaches your account. We never hold or handle your funds.
Grants carry no fee at all — not from you, not from the grant-maker. Access to the grant database is a membership benefit instead. That is the main reason membership exists.
What stays free, always
You are never charged to get ready. A business that cannot finish its profile cannot be matched, so we do not put a price in front of that.
Business leads
Refer work to other members and earn a share. The platform generates the agreement — both of you can print it.
Your standing referral terms
Set these once and incoming leads can be accepted automatically, without negotiating each time.
Send a leadBrowse services →
Members send and receive unlimited leads at no platform fee. The referral share below is between you and the other member — we are not a party to it and never hold the money. Specialist legal drafting is quoted separately.
Leads I received
Leads I sent
Professional services
Where a matter needs a qualified professional, these are quoted separately and handled by the professionals concerned.
Business Finance
Invoices, quotations and cash flow — the figures investors and funders ask for.
Cash flow
Quick actions
Why this matters
Almost every funder on this platform asks for the same three things: bank statements, financial statements and a cash-flow forecast. Recording invoices here as you issue them means you can produce those in minutes instead of weeks.