Capetonians Pieter du Plessis and Viljoen de Kock, from Gudgu, manufacturers of sugar-free cordials, was named as the overall winner of the 2021 Engen Pitch & Polish competition.
The Gudgu owners will receive R650,000 in cash paid out over two years as they achieve the business milestones laid out in their pitch, and a bursary of R350,000 for a full two-year Raizcorp incubation programme as part of this year’s Engen Pitch & Polish Competition.
“This has changed our lives forever. We are so grateful to Engen, Nedbank and Raizcorp for the cash prizes and incubation opportunity. We are hungry for knowledge and guidance on how to make Gudgu a successful and fail-proof business,” says du Plessis.
Runner up winner, this year’s wildcard contestant Gomolemo Motshwane, from Urban Mobility, takes home R100,000 in cash and second runner-up Ouma Tema of Plus-Fab gave it her all and won R50,000.
This year, South Africa’s entrepreneurial pitching competition and workshop programme, hosted in partnership with Engen, Nedbank and Raizcorp, came back with an all-new digital format and a staggering first prize worth R1m in a post-Covid approach.
The Engen Pitch & Polish programme is a blend of competition, mentoring and learning. While contestants compete for the ultimate prize, the programme’s main aim is to impart entrepreneurial skills and knowledge – both to the contestants and to viewers as they learned alongside the 16 starting contestants.
Over three rounds of competition, the initial 16 contestants were whittled down to the final two. The competition has never been easy and this year the judges took it to a whole new level. Nkosincane Sithebe from Engen, Monique Chinnah from Nedbank and Allon Raiz from Raizcorp were tough on entrants – seeking out the best entrepreneurial talent.
