A living table of grant and blended-funding calls open to small and youth-owned businesses in South Africa: closing dates, what each fund offers, who may apply, and the official source.
Updated as windows open and close.
Most small-business funding in South Africa arrives in **windows**: a fund opens a call, sets a closing date, and then closes until the next round. The calls come from banks, development funders, sector bodies and foundations, and they rarely open at the same time. This page gathers the ones currently open to small and youth-owned businesses in one table, with the closing date, what the fund offers, who may apply, and the official source for every row. It is updated as windows open and close. **SETA grants** for training are a different thing and have their own page, kept by Mogapi Africa: [SETA discretionary-grant windows](https://mogapi.africa/news/seta-discretionary-grant-windows). Funding calls for **non-profit organisations** are not listed here; they belong with Ulift, the network's non-profit company. > **Key facts (as at 12 October 2026)** > - **Three** business-funding calls are open and listed below; **all three close in October 2026**. > - Earliest to close: the NFVF Sediba Creative Enterprise Programme, **23 October 2026, 17:00** (NFVF call for applications). > - Largest single award listed: the Orange Corners Innovation Fund GROW cohort, up to **R1 million** blended as half grant and half interest-free loan, Stage 1 closing **30 October 2026** (CDI Capital, OCIF page). > - The Absa Youth Entrepreneurship Fund closes **31 October 2026, 23:59** (Absa). > - Every row links to the funder's own notice. Dates and conditions are theirs; confirm on the source before you apply. ## Open Funding Windows for Small Businesses Dates are taken from each funder's own notice. A closed call stays in the "Recently closed" line below for a few weeks so its status is clear. | Fund | Closes | What it offers | Who may apply | Source | |---|---|---|---|---| | NFVF Sediba Creative Enterprise Programme | 23 Oct 2026, 17:00 | Enterprise-development support for businesses in the film and audio-visual sector, under the National Film and Video Foundation's Sediba programme | Creative enterprises in the sector, per the call | [NFVF call for applications](https://www.nfvf.co.za/nfvf-sediba-creative-enterprise-programme-call-for-applications/) | | Orange Corners Innovation Fund (OCIF) GROW, cohort 3 | Stage 1: 30 Oct 2026; Stage 2 by invitation, to 16 Nov 2026 | Blended funding of up to **R1 million**, half as a grant and half as an interest-free loan, with business support | Youth-owned businesses that have been trading for six months or more, per the fund's criteria | [OCIF, CDI Capital](https://cdicapital.co.za/ocif/) | | Absa Youth Entrepreneurship Fund (AYEF) 2026 | 31 Oct 2026, 23:59 | Grant funding and business support for youth-owned businesses | Black-owned youth businesses, per Absa's criteria | [Absa Youth Entrepreneurship Fund](https://www.absa.africa/absa-youth-entrepreneurship-fund/) | **Recently closed:** NFVF Youth Filmmaker Project, facilitating production company (closed 7 October 2026, 17:00); NFVF Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme 7, audio-visual sector (extended to and closed 7 October 2026, 23:59). ## How to Read a Funding Call | Check | Why it matters | |---|---| | **Who may apply** | Most calls set ownership, age, turnover or trading-history conditions. Read them first; an application that misses one is not read | | **Grant, loan or blended** | A grant is not repaid. A loan is, even at zero interest. Blended funding is both, so budget for the repayment half | | **Stage 1 and Stage 2** | Many funds shortlist from a short Stage 1 form and ask for the full business case only from those invited. Treat Stage 1 as the application | | **Documents** | Company registration, a tax compliance status PIN, bank statements and financials recur across calls. Having them current saves days | | **The closing time** | A date without a time usually means the end of that day, but some portals close at 12:00 or 16:00 | > A funding window rewards the business that was ready before it opened. The documents most calls ask for are the same ones a well-run business keeps anyway. ## Where Bighearts Africa Fits Bighearts Africa develops small businesses and the SMMEs that host young people on programmes: enterprise support, market access through the network, and getting a business visible online through its NetSite. We keep this table so that the businesses we work with, and any small business reading it, can see what is open without searching every funder's site. The funders decide who is funded, and nothing here is a promise of an award. Each row's conditions are the funder's own, so read the linked notice before applying. *Reviewed by Bighearts Africa, 12 October 2026. Last reviewed: 2026-10-12.*