AI has collapsed the cost of getting from an idea to a working prototype. That changes who can build, and what an investor is choosing between.
Postponed
The masterclass will not go ahead on Tuesday 27 October 2026. We are aiming for early 2027, and will announce the new date on this page. What this means for you
The premise
The day starts from one premise. AI has collapsed the cost of getting from an idea to a working prototype. That changes who can build, and what an investor is choosing between. It matters most for people who have been shut out of building companies until now, because the price of a first product used to be the barrier and is no longer.
“For a long time, building a company took capital that most South Africans could not reach. AI has changed that arithmetic. This day is for the investors who want to understand what it means, and for the founders who are about to prove it.”
Keynote
South African financial services' only Black female innovator four years running. First prize, FNB Innovation. International keynote speaker.
The day
Registration and coffee from 08:30. The programme runs from 09:00 to 17:00, and networking follows. Investors and founders spend most of the day together and part of it in separate working sessions.
What a working prototype costs today against three years ago, shown rather than asserted.
The whole room reads a famous deck the way an investor would: what it promised, what the numbers were doing, and what would be different today.
What to test in a proposal when a working demo is cheap to make.
Founders build a working prototype with AI during the session. Bring a laptop.
Founders sit as the investment committee and investors pitch to them. Then they swap.
Selected founders pitch to a panel of investors, five minutes each.
Who it is for
R2,500 per seat
For people who invest in early-stage companies, or want to start.
Bookings reopen with the new date.
Free, by application
For founders with an idea or an early product. Places are limited. Applications are closed, and those already made carry over to the new date.
Applications reopen with the new date.
The new date
The masterclass will not go ahead on Tuesday 27 October 2026. We are aiming for early 2027, and will announce the new date on this page.
Email us and we will let you know as soon as the date is set and bookings open again.
Email sylvester@transformer.africaThe masterclass is an educational and networking event. It does not offer investment opportunities, screened deal flow or arranged introductions, and nothing said on the day is financial advice.