Accelerate 36, a new joint project, was launched in Namibia last week to boost the national start-up ecosystem and offer a formal path for high-growth companies to list on public capital markets.
The programme, led by the growth engineering firm Grindstone, intends to create a pipeline of scalable firms that are specifically designed for the Namibia Securities Exchange's Development Capital Board.
According to the organisers, Accelerate 36 intends to develop a methodical framework for assessing promising enterprises and preparing them for the rigours of transparency and investor confidence.
The proposed idea prioritises a path, helping start-ups with organised capital raising and ultimately enabling successful companies to move to the Namibia Stock Exchange (NXS) Main Board.
Eben van Heerden, partner at Knife Capital, said the project's five-year ambition is to see at least 10 supported Namibian start-ups achieve spectacular exits.
The effort comes at a critical time for Namibia's financial position. While the country's innovation economy is thriving, few businesses now reach the "governance-ready" threshold needed to attract institutional investment.
Furthermore, Grindstone said the domestic capital markets are seeing a smaller investable space, even as pension funds are increasingly forced to dedicate sections of their portfolios to alternative assets.
Catherine Young, managing partner at Grindstone, explained that the initiative might act as a "forerunner of robust liquidity" in otherwise constrained funding situations. She underlined Namibia's potential to become a pioneer in African development exchanges.
Ecosystem partners such as Grindstone, Knife Capital, and Thinkroom are helping to further the collaborative effort.
Furthermore, the program reflects a larger commitment to building an ecosystem in which companies may thrive and scale.
The initiative plans to build a systematic approach to the NSX, it hopes to increase the pool of investable enterprises, opening up new options for both local entrepreneurs and institutional investors.
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