10X-e partners with Alphacode to help SA Fintech companies scale up

Growth strategy consulting firm 10X-e and South African Fintech support giant Alphacode have announced a partnership to help firms with the integration and scaling up of their Fintech capabilities. The duo has already shortlisted five of the country’s top Fintech entrepreneurs for a two-year comprehensive scaling up programme.

Despite a struggle with dipping prices and slow economic growth, South Africa appears to be thriving in the face of digital disruption. The country’s top four banks are preparing for the Fintech revolution, and the country’s staggering Fintech adoption rate of 71% is the third fastest in the world, behind only India and China.

As a result, the number of entrepreneurs operating in the Fintech domain has ballooned considerably – a situation that 10X-e and Alphacode are looking to capitalise on through a new collaborative arrangement. The initial wave of Fintech startups has now given way to a scenario where these firms are looking to massively scale up their operations.

10X-e is a specialist in scaling up operations. The firm operates on the principle that expanding one’s business in itself is a process that requires a certain kind of expertise that most entrepreneurs overlook when making expansion plans, leaving them in what the firm describes as “no man’s land.”

Alongside offering consulting support for this process, the firm also engages clients in workshops and long-term programmes to scale up in the quickest but most stable way possible. It is programs of these nature that 10X-e will now offer in collaboration with Alphacode.

Branded as a disruptive agency, Alphacode is a venture fund supported by Rand Merchant Investment Holdings, which is currently funding innovative firms looking to disrupt the financial services industry. The firm will contribute approximately R1 million to the firms selected for the programme, which extends over a period of two years.

The accelerator programme will combine the financial support from alphacode with the technical expertise offered by 10X-e, which includes familiarization with 12 tenets of rapid and sustainable growth. The duo has already selected five firms for the first two-year programme, namely Entersekt, Livestock Wealth, Click2Sure, Invoice Worx and Isazi Consulting.

“There’s no doubt that accelerators specialising in how to scale a business are invaluable for most entrepreneurs at this delicate stage in a business journey. Growth often kills when businesses cross a threshold of complexity not experienced before. Most great entrepreneurs are scaling a company for the first time. Fortunately, there is a defined ‘physics’ of rapid growth;  rightly applying the 12 Disciplines of 10X Entrepreneurs – the heart of the 10X Program - you can dramatically increase the rate and sustainability of growth,” comments Jason Goldberg, Founder of 10X-e.

He adds, “We are dealing with the ‘crème de la crème’ of South Africa’s entrepreneurs dealing with the most extreme growing pains, so the need for guidance from seasoned Scale Up leaders who’ve ‘been there’ is key to both the success of the business and to its contribution to our economy. We look forward to helping these founders navigate the Bermuda Triangle of growth successfully.”

The duo also gains social legitimacy points through its selection of clients. As explained by Goldberg, “Another accolade for this cohort is that three of the five businesses are majority black-owned tech ventures, and most certainly earned their place on the program on pure merit terms. We’re really proud to be supporting these globally competitive entrepreneurs.”