Startup Club ZA has announced the inaugural South African Startup Week (SASW), a three-day event taking place at Makers Landing, V&A Waterfront in Cape Town from 15 to 17 April 2026.
The event is aimed at founders, startup teams, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs, and is structured around three themed days: Inspire, Build, and Connect.
The announcement comes against a positive backdrop for the local ecosystem. According to the Partech Africa Tech Venture Capital Report, South Africa reclaimed its position as the continent’s leader in both equity investment and deal count in 2025 for the first time since 2017. StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025 also ranks the country first in Africa and 52nd globally, with 19.5% year-on-year growth.
What to Expect Across the Three Days
Day one focuses on founder stories, with speakers from Yoco, PayFast, Yebo Fresh, FlexClub, and UCOOK, among others, sharing insights on building and scaling companies in South Africa.
Day two is hands-on, featuring twelve expert-led workshops covering product development, fundraising, legal, sales, AI, and founder wellness. Four hackathons, sponsored by Canva, TikTok, Lovable, and Octoco, will run alongside the workshops.
Day three focuses on networking and capital connections, with an ecosystem run, city-wide coffee meet-ups, and a private investor lunch for active capital deployers.
Mathew Marsden, Founder of Startup Club ZA, said:
“We’ve built an event that we feel has been long overdue locally, allowing founders and investors to capitalise on the very real momentum in the South African startup space right now. Startup Week brings together the people building and backing the country’s most ambitious companies, in one city, over three days. We’re proud to be playing our part in what we believe can become a landmark, annual gathering for the local ecosystem.”
The event is supported by the Western Cape Government and hosted in partnership with more than 30 ecosystem stakeholders, including FNB, RMB, E Squared Investments, Canva, TransUnion, TikTok, Lovable, Origen Software, MakeReign, Dommisse Attorneys, Finovate, and Octoco.
A Johannesburg edition is planned for later in 2026.
Day tickets are priced at R525 for Day One (Inspire) and Day Two (Build), with the Day Three Connect run/walk event available for R50. An Early Bird 2-Day Pass is available for R900. Tickets and full-week passes are available at startupclubza.com/startup-week.
According to Stats SA, South Africa’s unemployment rate stood at 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, based on the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, with youth unemployment significantly higher. Events that bring together founders, investors, and ecosystem builders are increasingly seen as part of broader efforts to stimulate job creation through entrepreneurship.
Editor’s note: iAfrikan previously covered Startup Club ZA’s The Big Pitch 2025. You can read that coverage here: The Big Pitch 2025 — South Africa’s Bold New Stage for Startup Ambition
