Your gateway to the next stage of your business
Gateway for Business is a two-day business growth summit in Gauteng and a year-round programme for South African entrepreneurs and businesses, from a first idea to supplying large companies. The first edition takes place in 2027.
- When
- Q3 2027, dates to follow
- Where
- Gauteng, venue to follow
- Who
- 500 to 600 business owners
What is Gateway for Business?
Gateway for Business is a business growth summit and membership programme run by Executive Conference Events in Johannesburg. It brings entrepreneurs, small businesses and growing companies together with the buyers, funders, mentors and experts who can help them reach their next stage.
Each summit runs over two days. Day 1 is for learning, in four tracks matched to the stage of your business. Day 2 is for connecting: pre-arranged meetings with corporate buyers, finance providers and mentors. Every participant leaves with a 90-Day Business Growth Plan.
We won’t just tell you how to grow. We’ll give you access to the people, tools, knowledge and opportunities that help you grow.
2027 theme: Opportunity
Where is my next opportunity, and how do I take it?
The theme changes every year. The four tracks never do. Each track takes the theme from the point of view of a business at that stage.
Discover
Explore and start
“Is there an opportunity in my skill or idea?”
Build
Start and establish
“Which opportunity should my new business focus on first?”
Grow
Strengthen and expand
“Where is my next growth opportunity: customers, products or contracts?”
Scale
Expand and compete
“Which larger markets, contracts or investments should we go after?”
Lead is where the journey goes after Scale: graduates return as mentors, buyers, investors and partners.
What you get as a participant
You don’t just attend. You arrive with a plan for the day and leave with a plan for the next 90 days.
A Growth Assessment
Answer a short set of questions when you register. It places you in your track and shows where your business is strongest and weakest.
A personalised programme
Sessions, workshops and clinic slots chosen for your stage and your biggest challenge.
Practical learning on Day 1
Workshops of no more than 40 people, templates in hand, with experts who run businesses.
Business access on Day 2
Meetings with buyers, funders, mentors and technology providers, set up before you arrive.
A 90-Day Business Growth Plan
Every participant leaves with a one-page plan: three priorities, the actions for each and the people who can help.
Follow-up after the summit
Check-ins at 90 days, six months and twelve months, and follow-up introductions, to see what changed.
Business in a Box
A starter kit that gets a new business online, invoicing and taking card payments from day one. Buy one for your business, or sponsor one for a start-up.
- A Rizzen tablet with a protective cover
- Mobile internet from Rain
- Business apps already set up, with free sign-up on every platform
- Invoicing and customer management (CRM)
- Card payments with a Yoco online account
- Guidance on getting a business phone number that works over the internet
- A guide to setting up business email and a website
- 12 months’ free Gateway for Business membership
The Business Access Programme
Day 2 is built around real meetings, not presentations. Buyers, funders and partners come to the summit to find businesses they can work with.
Meet the Buyer
Pre-arranged 20-minute meetings between qualifying businesses and corporate and public-sector buyers, matched in advance.
Procurement
Briefings where buyers explain what they buy, how to get onto their supplier lists and the mistakes to avoid.
Funding and finance
Banks, development finance institutions and alternative lenders, there to talk about financing your next stage.
Investment
Introductions and pitch sessions with investors for growth-ready businesses in the Scale track.
Technology access
Hands-on time with accounting, CRM, AI, e-commerce and cybersecurity tools. Try them rather than watch demos.
Mentorship
Sponsored cohorts meet their corporate mentors, and new mentor matches are made.
Market access
Routes into new provinces, sectors and export markets with trade and market-access partners.
Why South Africa needs it
South Africa has many business support programmes. What it lacks is one long-term place where a person with an idea can find the knowledge, people, markets and finance they need at each stage, and keep coming back as the business grows.
Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Q2 2026 and South Africa’s Youth and the Labour Market, Q1 2026.
For companies that want to grow small business
Partners don’t sponsor a logo on a banner. They take a defined role as funders, buyers, mentors, experts or technology providers, sponsor named cohorts of businesses, and receive impact reports on what changed for them.
Owned by Executive Conference Events
Executive Conference Events (ECE) is a Johannesburg events company, established in 2022, that runs conferences, exhibitions, B2B matchmaking and hosted buyer programmes across more than 30 African countries. ECE owns Gateway for Business and runs it as its own long-term programme, planned for every year from 2027 to 2046.
Be in the room for the first edition
Register your interest and we’ll tell you first when registration, the Growth Assessment and ticket prices open in 2027.