FUNDING AGENCIES

 Our Process

1. Initiate:

Helping you find funding is our core business. We identify your most promising loan or grant options early in the project cycle and match you ambitions, objectives and intentions and investments with that funding programme.

Our proactive approach leads to successful results. We not only “follow the money” and monitor available subsidy schemes, we also “follow our clients” to gain insight into their project. Over the years, this approach has benefited several of our clients.

2. Draft a Bankable Business Plan:

A business plan is a key element in gaining successful funding, and as such, taking the time to create and develop a clear, viable plan will demonstrate that you have done the time and thinking required to make a well-rounded business venture. We will help advise you on the strength and suitability of your business plan, and if you have not yet drafted one, we will assist you in drawing one up. Click here for more information.

3. Apply:

In the application phase, we prepare and submit high-quality grant or loan applications to the appropriate funding authority, optimising your chances of success. We do this by gathering important and relevant information and preparing applications, providing advise on state aid rules, writing and filing grant and loan applications, and assisting in proposal evaluation and contract negotiations.

4. Ensure Compliance:

Loan and grant funding programmes have several pages of rules and regulations that people often do not take the time to read or understand. We make sure that you qualify for the relevant grant or loan programme and that you have the correct information and documentation required. We ensure that you fully comply with all the requirements, right through the claim process until the moment your funding payment is received.

5.Manage the Entire Process:

We assist you through this process, remind you of missing documentation when it is needed, and we update you and keep you informed of any changes to the process.

Let’s access your business. We need some basic details about your business and requirements. Please click the button below to fill out the assessment. Once we receive your details, we will get back to you within 24 hours.

Funding Application Assessment

Please fill out this form so we can advise you. In order to get started, we first need some information about your business and your requirements. We assure you that your information is completely safe with us, and we will not share this information with any third party without your approval. You will subscribe to our newsletter and you are able to unsubscribe at any time.

Once we receive your details, we will get back to you within 24 hours.

APPLY FOR FUNDING

Who Are We

The Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SOC) Limited (sefa) provides financial products and services to qualifying SMMEs and Co-operatives, as defined in the National Small Business Act of 1996 and amended in 2004, through a hybrid of wholesale and direct lending channels within the following sectors:

• Services (including retail & wholesale trades and tourism);
• Manufacturing (including agro-processing);
• Agriculture (specifically land reform beneficiaries and contract-farming activities);
• Construction (small construction contractors);
• Mining (specifically small scale miners); and
• Green industries (renewable energy, waste and recycling management).

The agency is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Industrial Development Corporation Limited (IDC) and was founded on 1 April 2012 – in terms of Section 3 (d) of the Industrial Development Corporation Act, No. 22 of 1940 (IDC Act) – following a cabinet decision and the 2011 State of the Nation Address to merge the three agencies: Khula, the South African Micro-Finance Apex Fund and the IDC’s small business funding into a single entity.

The Department of Small Business Development is sefa's executive authority.

What We Do

sefa’s core function is to foster the establishment, development and growth of SMMEs and Co-operatives, and to contribute towards poverty alleviation, job creation and economic growth.

Our task is to provide SMMEs and Co-operatives throughout South Africa with simple access to finance in an efficient and sustainable manner, by:

• delivering wholesale and direct lending credit facilities or products;
• providing credit guarantees to SMMEs and Co-operatives;
• supporting the institutional strengthening of financial intermediaries, so that they can effectively assist small and micro-enterprises and co-operatives;
• creating strategic partnerships with a range of institutions for sustainable small, micro and co-operative enterprise development and support;
• monitoring the effectiveness and impact of our financing, credit guarantee and capacity development activities; and
• developing (through partnerships) innovative finance products, tools and channels, to speed up increased market participation in the provision of affordable finance.

How We Work

sefa partners with businesses it assist; creating partnerships is an important element of sustainable development strategy.

It enables the agency to provide financial and business support to numerous small, medium, micro and co-operative enterprises throughout the country, either to establish new enterprises or to grow existing ones.

Small enterprises can also access sefa’s products through any of its intermediary or partnership channels such as:

• Commercial banks
• Co-operative financial institutions (CFIs)
• Micro-finance intermediaries (MFIs)
• Retail financial intermediaries (RFIs)
• Strategic partnerships and;
• Structured Finance Solutions (SFSs)

SMMEs and Co-operatives can get credit facilities from R500 up to R5-million when applying through any of sefa’s intermediaries or partnerships.

For direct loans of R50 000 up to R5-million, SMMEs and Co-operatives can access this through regional offices, sefa co-location offices, branches and satellite offices nationally.

POLLEN FINANCE