Grindstone, the growth engineer co-owned by Knife Capital and Thinkroom, joined ecosystem partners in Windhoek last week in launching a collaborative initiative aimed at strengthening Namibia’s startup ecosystem. This effort seeks to create a pathway for high-growth startups to access public capital markets.

The event, held under the banner of Accelerate 36, brought together policymakers, regulators, investors, founders and ecosystem builders to explore how Namibia can unlock economic growth.

This will be done by developing a pipeline of scalable startups and enabling their listing on the Development Capital Board (DevX) of the Namibia Securities Exchange (NSX).

“We have the influence, brainpower, and energy in this room to ensure that we transform the Namibian capital markets”, said Ben Bertolini, Namibian angel investor, at the opening of the event.

Accelerate 36 aims to align stakeholders around a shared ambition: positioning Windhoek as a thriving startup hub whilst expanding Namibia’s investable universe and deepening its capital markets.

The initiative proposes a structured pathway that supports startups from validation and growth through to listing and eventual graduation to the NSX main board.

Whilst Namibia has strong entrepreneurial talent and a growing innovation ecosystem, relatively few Namibian startups successfully scale into governance-ready companies capable of attracting institutional investment.

At the same time, Namibia’s domestic capital markets face a shrinking investable universe, whilst pension funds are required to allocate a portion of their portfolios to alternative investments.

This initiative aims to bridge this gap by creating a disciplined system that prepares startups for public markets whilst strengthening governance, transparency and investor confidence.

The proposed model focuses on a clear progression: validating promising startups, preparing them for listing on the NSX Development Capital Board, supporting their growth through structured capital raising, and ultimately enabling successful companies to graduate to the NSX Main Board.

By building this pathway, the pool of investable companies in Namibia will greatly expand, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors and institutional capital.

As part of the event, three Namibian startups, Yyeni, PatientCare, and Mindsinaction, pitched their ventures, showcasing the type of innovation that could form part of the next generation of scalable African companies. The startups span key sectors including AI-driven education technology, digital healthcare access, and STE[A]M skills development, highlighting how entrepreneurs are tackling critical challenges whilst building businesses with the potential to scale across Africa.

The initiative is being advanced through collaboration between ecosystem partners led by Grindstone. Attendees included representatives from government, regulators, pension funds, asset managers, accelerators and entrepreneurs, reflecting the multi-stakeholder collaboration required to build a thriving startup ecosystem.

“This initiative could be the forerunner of robust liquidity in otherwise scarce funding landscapes” says Catherine Young, Managing Partner of Grindstone. “Namibia could own a pioneering status in Africa for development exchanges. The time to act is now.”

Eben van Heerden, Partner at Knife Capital, commented, “In my vision of five years, I see a picture of plaques of honour for ten startups that have been funded in Namibia that have exited spectacularly. These startups will make a remarkable return on investment for the people that back them.”

The discussions in Windhoek mark an important step toward building a stronger startup ecosystem and unlocking new pathways for innovation-driven growth in Namibia. For Grindstone, the initiative reinforces its commitment to supporting entrepreneurs across Africa and helping build ecosystems where startups can grow, scale and thrive.

About Grindstone

Grindstone is a global accelerator founded in 2013, engineering high-growth entrepreneurship and co-owned by Knife Capital and Thinkroom. It focuses on assisting high-growth, innovation-driven companies to scale their businesses.

As a growth engineer, Grindstone is designed for businesses eager to grow and expand. Grindstone’s reach has expanded exponentially into Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the UK and Channel Islands, enabling many startups to scale into international markets.

For more information, visit https://grindstonexl.com/