The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Africa's largest stock exchange, has partnered with the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), a South African government agency that supports technology commercialisation, to help 10 local technology small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) become investment-ready and connect with new markets and sources of capital.

The 16-week pilot, launched on September 30, gives participating companies access to capital-market expertise, investor networks and commercial opportunities, as the JSE tests whether it can play a larger role earlier in the startup funding pipeline.

The programme will support SMEs in the health, agriculture and fintech sectors with investment readiness, market access and connections to potential sources of capital. The 10 companies were selected based on their existing products or services, operating maturity and commercial potential, according to a statement.

Participants will receive support on investment readiness and pitch development, while gaining access to JSE networks through a market access day and sector-specific engagements. By the end of the programme, the JSE and TIA aim to produce SMEs with funding-ready pitch packs, market linkages and a pipeline of potential capital engagements.

Some participants could also become eligible for AltX screening, the JSE's process for assessing companies for potential listing on its alternative market for smaller and growing businesses. That does not mean the companies will be listed or funded as a result of the programme. Instead, the initiative is designed to move them closer to the point where they can engage investors and potentially access formal capital markets.

For TIA, the partnership addresses a persistent problem in South Africa's innovation ecosystem: getting locally developed technologies into the market.

"One of the key challenges in the innovation value chain is ensuring that new technologies and innovations are commercialised and access the markets," said Patrick Krappie, executive for innovation enabling at TIA, in a statement.

Krappie said the partnership between TIA and JSE Rise, the local bourse's SME investment-readiness programme, aligns with the agency's role as a "connector and facilitator" for the commercialisation of locally developed innovations. The agency wants the programme to support businesses addressing national priorities while helping them move from developing technologies to finding markets, customers and capital.

The JSE said the initiative expands its SME Rise, the exchange's SME growth support programme, into technology sectors it considers important to economic growth. SMEs account for 91% of formal businesses, provide 60% of jobs and contribute up to 34% of GDP, according to Deputy Finance Minister Ashor Sarupen.

"We are pleased to expand our suite of SME Rise development solutions to support sectors that are critical to driving economic growth," said Vuyo Lee, chief marketing and corporate affairs officer at the JSE.

Through the partnership, Lee said the JSE is seeking to equip South African technology SMEs with the capabilities and opportunities to compete regionally and globally. The move also gives the exchange an earlier role in the lifecycle of high-growth businesses.

Traditionally, capital markets sit further down the growth journey, after a company has developed a product, found customers, built revenue and established the governance and financial systems investors require. Optasia, a global fintech platform that provides mobile financial services, listed on the JSE's Main Board in November 2025 at an implied market capitalisation of R23.5 billion ($1.4 billion). Technology group 4Sight also moved from AltX to the JSE Main Board in January 2025.

The JSE and TIA are now testing whether bringing some of that capital-market preparation forward can improve the chances of innovative businesses reaching that stage. With the pilot running on a fixed 16-week schedule from its September 30 launch, the checkpoints to watch are the programme's stated outputs — funding-ready pitch packs, market linkages and a pipeline of potential capital engagements — and whether any of the 10 participants become eligible for AltX screening.

Source: TechCabal