A six month school for founders with early traction.
The first cohort begins January 2027. Weekly sessions with founders and owners who have built and sold real companies, on the business and on the person running it. At demo day, three to five founders per cohort receive a R100,000 grant. Everyone who finishes receives twelve months of mentorship.
What is Saturn foundation?
Saturn foundation is a South African nonprofit company (NPC) built to make entrepreneurship a practical, scalable route to a more equal economy, so that young founders who have already started can build businesses that last, and the work those businesses create reaches beyond the founder.
What Startup School is
A six month online program for people who have already started and are ready to grow. The first cohort begins January 2027.
You get weekly teaching on the live business, and on the founder running it, in a cohort of eight to fifteen. Teachers are founders and owners who have built and sold real companies. At month six a panel awards three to five grants of R100,000. Everyone who finishes receives twelve months of mentorship.
Read more about the program →Six months of school, a grant earned at demo day, and a year of mentorship.
Commercial skills from week one
Pricing, sales, cash flow and go to market, applied to your business as you learn them.
Weekly sessions with founders who have built and sold real companies
The business and the person. Numbers, customers and the next decision, and the mindset, energy and judgement underneath them.
A R100,000 grant, earned at demo day
Three to five grants per cohort. No equity. No repayment. The founder keeps the company.
Twelve months of mentorship for everyone who finishes
Monthly check ins, buyer introductions, and a cohort that stays together after school ends.
Who we are looking for
Full time founders aged 18 to 35, based in South Africa, building product and platform businesses with early users or early revenue. We back companies across technology, consumer and creative industries.
- A product or platform that already exists
- Early users or early revenue
- Building it full time
- Aged 18 to 35 and based in South Africa
For example
- A software product with early users
- A consumer brand with repeat customers
- A marketplace with both sides trading
- A creative platform with an audience
- An app with paying subscribers