About Us
Endeavor is the leading global community of, by, and for High-Impact Entrepreneurs — those who dream bigger, scale faster, and pay it forward. Driven by our belief that High-Impact Entrepreneurs transform economies, Endeavor is on a mission to build thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging and underserved markets around the world.
Endeavor creates a Multiplier Effect by inspiring high-growth founders to dream bigger, supporting and investing in them to scale faster, and providing a platform pay it forward — thereby compounding their individual impact.
To sustain Endeavor’s long-term operations in a mission-aligned way, Endeavor created Endeavor Catalyst — a rules-based, co-investment fund, set up to invest in the same High-Impact Entrepreneurs that Endeavor supports. Today. Endeavor Catalyst is among the world’s top early-stage funders of startups-turned $1B+ companies (“Unicorns”) outside of the U.S. and China.
Endeavor South Africa
Endeavor South Africa’s values are deeply entrenched in “A Culture of Big Thinking”, what this means for us is the ability to think, work, act on ideas and philosophies that help make those dreams become a reality.
Endeavor South Africa is a mission-driven, global organization leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement in the country. Our values that guide us start with putting our entrepreneurs first because we are an organization of, by, and for entrepreneurs. We are built on a network of mutual trust and respect and we constantly strive to multiply our impact wherever possible while always looking to pay it forward.
Endeavor South Africa opened its offices in 2004 and Rama Diallo Shagaya spearheaded the launch of this office, located in Johannesburg. Since its inauguration, Endeavor South Africa has welcomed Managing Directors such as Greg Durst (2006 – 2009), Malik Fal (2008 – 2012), Catherine Townshend (2012 – 2018), and most recently, Alison Collier (present).
Since its launch, Endeavor South Africa has selected 97 Entrepreneurs, leading 73 companies in multiple industries across FinTech, Healthcare, Technology, FMCG, Agriculture, Education, and Enterprise Software and services.
To date, the South African office has screened over 4000 companies and has enlisted the support of 165 active mentors who provide rich expertise in a variety of industries.
"Sustainable economies are dependent on high-impact entrepreneurship. What Endeavor does better than any other organization is to create entire cultures of entrepreneurship that spread within and between countries."
Reid Hoffman, Linkedin/Greylock
Endeavor Global Board Member
What We Believe
Endeavor’s values guide our brand and mission — the way we represent our organization and network, and the choices we make. These values are our founding principles; they have guided our growth and development over two decades and will continue to steer us forward.
We put Endeavor Entrepreneurs at the center of everything we do and make sure we always have their back.
We are a community built on mutual respect and we always safeguard founders’ interests.
We see crazy as a compliment, risk as opportunity, and impact as unlimited.
We are borderless — unified by our belief in the power of entrepreneurship and tech-enabled innovation.
We multiply our impact by empowering the next generation of founders.
We are dynamic and flexible, adapting to changing market dynamics and fresh data points.
Our Operating Model
We select Endeavor Entrepreneurs by searching the globe, identifying founders with the greatest growth potential, and inviting them to participate in our renowned international selection process.
We support Endeavor Entrepreneurs with our expansive global network, unrivaled peer-to-peer community, and highly-curated services.
We elevate Endeavor Entrepreneurs as aspirational role models and provide avenues for them to mentor and inspire others to reimagine what is possible.
We invest in Endeavor Entrepreneurs through our rules-based fund, Endeavor Catalyst.
We advance the conversation around global entrepreneurship and innovation through original content, leveraging Endeavor’s proprietary data set and insights.