Top entrepreneurs pitch their businesses at Bellville event
The top five were selected from 10 small businesses that participated in the live pitch. The winners pictured from left are Cazri Johnson of Ncinci Ndiqala; Aqeelah Taliep of Diamond Sparkle Detergents; Carmy Davis of Davis Clothing Collection; Shaun Cairns of Seed 2 Harvestand; and Sodieq Barendse of Pekkish.
Image: Sibulele Kasa
Five local businesses have been named the top 5 in this year’s Bellville Connect Level Up Series — a celebration of innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurial spirit in the Tygerberg area.
The finalists were chosen from ten small businesses that pitched their ideas at a live event in Bellville on Tuesday, October 21. The top five included Davis Clothing Collection, a clothing manufacturing company; Ncinci Ndiqala, a waste management and recycling service; Diamond Sparkle Detergents, producers of cleaning products; Seed2Harvest, a regenerative agriculture specialist; and Pekkish, a software platform helping small and medium businesses streamline operations and improve efficiency.
Hosted by the Tygerberg Greater Partnership (GTP), the event marked the finale of the 2025 Bellville Connect Level Up Series — an eight-week business development programme connecting local entrepreneurs with industry experts, funders, and potential customers.
Launched in August, the hybrid programme combined in-person and online sessions and invited applications from businesses operating for at least two years in the greater Bellville area. Eligible participants also had to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and innovation, an annual turnover of at least R250 000, and a drive to scale their businesses and grow their impact.
Over 70 businesses applied to join the programme and about 36 businesses were selected to take part.
Participants benefited from expert-led workshops, individual mentorship, and support to help them strengthen their business models, enhance their market readiness, and prepare to pitch to potential partners and investors.
The benefits for the top five businesses will now include complimentary media profiling support to help them strengthen their visibility, priority access to upcoming business development opportunities, and a share in prizes that will be confirmed post-event, among other benefits.
This pitch event will be followed by the Bellville Business Expo on October 28 and 29, where the top 21 businesses will showcase their products, and also where the top three businesses will be announced.
The top three businesses at the expo will receive personalised business mentorship from experts, winner certificates, prizes to be confirmed, and complimentary media packages supporting their visibility, among other benefits.
“We have been very passionate about identifying entrepreneurs, people who want to do things for innovation and for creating opportunities for their own well-being, plus changing the environment they are living in. We themed this year around sustainability, which is very important to us,” said Warren Hewitt, chief executive of the GTP.
The mayoral committee member for economic growth, James Vos, described the expo as a space where “great ideas meet real opportunities,” and where small businesses can gain the tools and connections to scale their businesses.