GrowthWheel’s African Journey:
TwentyYears of continued purposeful mastery, committed to global entrepreneurship ecosystem impact.

Planting the Seeds of Growth (2005)

GrowthWheel’s connection to Africa began in 2005 on the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda. At an open-source conference, Danish entrepreneur David Madie, the founder of GrowthWheel, met South African an edtech and economic development ecosytem builder Hilton Theunissen. David was filming a BBC documentary on tech knowledge transfer from South Africa to East Africa, while Hilton was pioneering open-source adoption alongside Mark Shuttleworth—Philanthropist, Africa’s first private astronaut and the founder of Ubuntu Linux Distribution.

That conversation sparked an idea: a framework to empower business advisors and entrepreneurs worldwide. Soon after, David founded The StartUp Company in Denmark, and what began as a service quickly evolved into GrowthWheel, a global system for business advisory.

From an Idea to a Global Framework (2006-2008)

Between 2006 and 2008, GrowthWheel was developed in Denmark in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and the Danish Business Authority. The goal? To provide structured, visual decision-making tools that help entrepreneurs and business advisors navigate growth with clarity.

By 2010, GrowthWheel had expanded beyond Europe, evolving into a global movement. Today, it supports advisors in over 70 countries, impacting hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs.

Returning to Africa: A Commitment Fulfilled (2012-Present)

Africa was always part of the plan. In 2012, GrowthWheel returned to the continent, bringing its proven methodology to business advisors, incubators, accelerators, and economic development agencies.

• 2015: GrowthWheel South Africa was officially incorporated, fulfilling a vision first discussed in Uganda a decade earlier.

• Government adoption: The SA Ministry of Small Business and SEDA implemented GrowthWheel as the standard framework for funded incubators and accelerators.

• 60+ incubators and accelerators were trained at SEDA HQ, embedding GrowthWheel into South Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.  

GrowthWheel South Africa Today

https://linktr.ee/growthwheelsouthafrica

✅ Supporting thousands of entrepreneurs across multiple industries
✅ Partnering with enterprise development programs, incubators, and accelerators
✅ Transforming business advisory across the continent

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For 20 years, GrowthWheel has shaped business advisory worldwide. Now, you can be part of the next decade of African transformation.