South African startup survey

Ventureburn, a news media platform focused on the world’s startup news and tech entrepreneurs’ stories from the emerging markets, recently finished a survey on uncovering the “true picture of the South African startup landscape”. They partnered with First National Bank, Clifftop Colony and Quiro to poll around 200 tech startups each of which were asked 42 questions covering topics such as funding, founders’ profiles, everyday challenges and revenues.
The survey found that “most tech startup founders are motivated by “opportunity”, or a “gap in the market” (17%) and to become “pioneers”, or “innovate” (15%). On the other hand, few are driven to “make the big bucks” (4%)”. They also discovered that majority of startups (59%) can be found in the Western Cape which due to its natural beauty supports the theory that tech entrepreneurs, who can easily move around, “choose to work in aesthetically appealing places”.
The survey also found that currently most entrepreneurs are white males but there has been some signs that black entrepreneurship is increasing. Currently 17% of founders are black showing a significant increase from 2012 when a national survey put black entrepreneurs at just over six percent. However, there is still a major gender divide, according to the survey only six percent of startups are founded by females, whereas 68% are male founders and 27% are run by combined male and female teams.