The SME South Africa Funding Summit aims to serve as a bridge to the funding gap in South Africa. To pave the way towards achieving this, SME South Africa partnered with esteemed brands that also target SMEs. One of these respectable brands is Old Mutual SMEgo, which came on board as a bronze sponsor for the inaugural event.
We had a chat with Thandeka Dludla, the business manager at Old Mutual SME Business unit.
“We have developed a digital platform called SMEgo. SMEgo, true to its name, is for small to medium enterprises on the go that need to manage their business. They could use it on the web as well as mobile apps,” says Dludla.
What is SMEgo and How Does it Serve SMEs?
Thandeka explains that this platform was developed to solve the pain points of SMEs. SMEgo is a digital platform developed by Old Mutual, where businesses can access essential tools and support needed to thrive.
“We have solutions to help businesses grow their business and run their business, as well as protect their business,” Dludla explains. The tools that businesses can access on SMEgo include invoicing solutions, accounting, funding, HR, payroll, legal, and so much more.
SMEgo also offers funding opportunities, serving the market as an aggregator. “That means we have brought multiple funders into one platform, where we facilitate a journey of applying to multiple funders through one application,” she says.
SMEgo essentially walks the journey with SMEs to get matched to the right funder, and where they are not funding ready, they receive solutions to help them achieve that.
Thandeka continues to explain that SMEgo aims to solve the funding challenge in a unique and comprehensive way. “These solutions include financial management, where they could start generating their own financial statements, credit scoring capabilities, where they access their own credit score and understand how much they could ordinarily qualify for, as well as cash flow management tools.”
Essentially, SMEgo empowers the SME with a collection of tools that help them manage their finances, whether it be their income and expenses, or accessing funding for that little extra cashflow boost.
Key Takeaways From Old Mutual SMEgo at the SME South Africa Funding Summit
At the SME South Africa Funding Summit, Old Mutual SMEgo connected with SMEs to expose them to tools that can make their funding journey easier.
“SMEs don’t know which funder needs what, and they don’t have the time to figure out the various funder requirements, terms, and the underlying terms and conditions. So, we’re here to bridge that gap,” she explains. “They finally have somebody to help them on that journey and minimise the pain points of figuring it out for themselves or going to multiple funders only to spend months on end waiting for an answer and then getting declined.”
The SME South Africa Funding Summit offered an opportunity for SMEgo to directly engage with their audience. This brand engagement enables them to better serve their market. The team on the ground were able to connect with their customers and take part in important conversations about the challenges they face in their businesses. Entrepreneurs could stop by their exhibition stand to find out more about the SMEgo platform.
Sponsoring the SME South Africa Funding Summit
Old Mutual SMEgo’s involvement in the summit as a bronze sponsor gave them the chance to directly speak to businesses in need of support through information and access to tools. In addition, Dludla touched on how this opportunity isn’t only beneficial for businesses looking for funding but also makes it easier for funders.
According to Dludla, an in-person event such as the Funding Summit solves the funders’ issue of carving out time to educate interested business owners. “This is actually a big thing for the funders. So from that perspective, it’s not even necessarily about the funding itself but rather about shortening the process for them,” she smiles. “I think that is a game changer.”
To find out more about the Funding Summit, keep an eye out for our post-Funding Summit report that unpacks the success of this first event.
