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Success Stories

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Pitch & Polish sees 16 ambitious entrepreneurs go head-to-head in a high-stakes battle of business pitches, fighting for their shot at a R1 million prize package. But here’s the real win: EVERY contestant walks away with expert mentorship, real-world business skills and a stronger, more investment-ready pitch.

Pitch Polish Contestants Memphis Kaotsane@2x 100 780x470

Memphis Koatsane Interview: Nedbank Pitch & Polish Top 8 Finalist

Memphis Koatsane Interview: Nedbank Pitch & Polish Top 8 Finalist. A total of 8 talented and innovative minds have made it to the top 8 of the Nedbank Pitch & Polish competition for the R1 million prize. One of the contestants that made it is South African entrepreneur and founder of Moonshine Reflective Spray, Memphis Koatsane. We took some time to speak to Koatsane and find out about his experience in the competition, the inspiration behind his business and his vision for the future. Check it out below!

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October 16, 2025
Pitch Polish Contestants Orion Herman@2x 100 780x470

Orion Herman Interview: Nedbank Pitch & Polish Top 8 Finalist

Orion Herman Interview: Nedbank Pitch & Polish Top 8 Finalist. South African entrepreneur Orion Herman is proving that waste can be a goldmine – literally. With LiquidGold Africa, he’s spearheading waterless sanitation systems that turn human waste into valuable products like animal feed, compost and fertiliser. With this innovative environmentally friendly business, Herman has managed to secure a spot in the top 8 of the Nedbank Pitch & Polish competition for the R1 million prize. We recently had a conversation with Herman regarding the competition, his business journey and where he seeks to take his business should he win. Check it out below!

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October 16, 2025
Pitch & polish social media 09 oct 2024

How Avi Maja and Braden Snyman Scaled Breaze Delivery into South Africa’s Elevated Last-Mile Champion

In 2019, Avi Maja and Braden Snyman were far from household names, they were simply exploring gaps in the delivery market. Breaze Delivery began as a side hustle while both still held full-time jobs. Yet, the entrepreneurial spark was there: a chance to help e-commerce platforms deliver faster, more affordably and with a twist. They officially founded Breaze Delivery in 2021, building a technology-driven, last-mile and on-demand delivery platform that would serve ghost kitchens, grocery stores, liquor shops, online retailers, and more.

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August 22, 2025
P&P 2024

Breaze Delivery Pitch & Polish 2024 Winner

Winning Nedbank Pitch & Polish in 2024 was massive – not just financially as a result of the R650 000 in cash, but in terms of the business opportunities it allowed us to unlock. We approached the prize money very strategically. A good portion of the prize money went into refining and strengthening our tech platform.

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July 18, 2025

Florence Duval

Florence Duval is a seasoned strategist with over 25 years of experience leading sustainability, stakeholder engagement and social impact initiatives across public and private sectors. 

As CEO and founder of IN TOUCH, she guides cross-sectoral teams to deliver high-impact advisory solutions that strengthen institutions, enable public-private partnerships and secure both the legal and social licence to operate. Her expertise spans compliance, community development, issue management and sponsorship development – always anchored in sustainable development principles. 

A former mining executive and committed social activist, Florence is known for her ability to build meaningful partnerships, navigate complex regulatory environments and drive transformative impact through purpose-driven leadership

Monique Chinnah

Monique is a curious, serial questioner who wants to take the mystique out of business and finance to make it practical and relevant to entrepreneurs. ‘Why?’, ‘Why not?’ and ‘How can we help, for real?' are her favourite questions.

She is the Senior Manager of Segment Design and Development in Retail Relationship Banking at Nedbank, and she is responsible for ensuring that small businesses are fully supported through Banking and Beyond® solutions and most particularly as the product owner of the SimplyBiz® platform. Monique believes that keeping business strategy simple, real and practically implementable is fundamental to success. She also believes in the power of fun. If you don’t like what you’re doing, don’t do it!

Monique draws on her own entrepreneurial journeys and extensive management roles in various industries to ensure that solutions are conceptualised and delivered with small-business owners’ needs in mind.

She believes in life-long learning and being a sponge through immersions in over 300 000 businesses, various tertiary and educational programmes, and she is a YouTube and social-media hustler. In 2012 she was awarded a scholarship through Goldman Sachs UK to attend the 10 000 Women entrepreneurial programme through the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and she has been recognised with several Top Achiever Awards in Nedbank.

Allon Raiz

Allon Raiz is regarded both locally and globally as a pioneer and maverick in the business-incubation industry. He is the founder and CEO of Raizcorp which, according to The Economist, is the only genuine incubator in Africa and which currently supports over 500 businesses.

A two-times PhD dropout, Allon is the best-selling author of three entrepreneurial books. He hosted the first national radio show on entrepreneurship in South Africa in 2004; wrote and hosted the first South African prime-time entrepreneurship reality television show; and created and published an entrepreneurial cartoon strip. Allon is currently hosting his 15th season of the popular The Big Small Business Show on Business Day TV.

Allon is a co-founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation South Africa and Rural Roots, and is on the advisory and judging boards of numerous local and international NGOs and entrepreneurial awards. His passion for and focus on the development of entrepreneurs attracted the attention of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which, in 2008, recognised Allon as a Young Global Leader.

As an accomplished international speaker, Allon was invited to speak at the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland. In 2011, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship, making him one of 15 recognised global experts in the field. More recently, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Future Council.

In 2013, Allon received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Oliver Transformation and Empowerment Awards. The following year, he became the country winner, regional winner and continental winner of the Titan Award for Building Nations.

Between 2014 and 2016, Allon guest lectured at Oxford University where he was recognised as the Oxford University Saïd Business School’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

In 2015, Allon received an invitation from the White House, on behalf of President Barack Obama, to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Kenya.

Nonkqubela Maliza

Nonkqubela Maliza is the director of Corporate and Government Affairs at Volkswagen Group Africa. She has held the position since 2006 and also chairs the VW Community Trust and VWSA BEE Initiatives Trust. 

Prior to this, Nonkqubela was a senior executive at Metallon Corporation, a pan-African mining and financial services company with operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe. She also served as a chief director at the Department of Trade and Industry and has strong experience in the financial services sector. 

Nonkqubela holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town, a BA Honours in Economics from Rhodes University and a BA in Psychology and Economics from Rhodes University.