South African craft brewer Tolokazi Beer selected for accelerator programme - Trendtype Africa and Middle East
Tolokazi Beer has been selected as the second business to join a venture programme run by Grindstone Ventures and the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC). The programme, launched in 2024, targets four Black female-owned South African businesses over five years.
Tolokazi Beer has been selected as the second business to join a venture programme run by Grindstone Ventures and the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC). The programme, launched in 2024, targets four Black female-owned South African businesses over five years, providing early-stage capital and operational support to prepare them for further investment. The first selection was Chicken Bar, a grilled chicken chain, in May 2025. Grindstone is a South African startup accelerator founded in 2013 and jointly owned by Knife Capital, a Cape Town-based venture capital firm, and Thinkroom, a Johannesburg management consultancy. MIC is a 100% Black-owned investment company set up in 1995 by the Mineworkers Investment Trust to manage assets on behalf of mine, energy and construction workers. MIC provides the capital, while Grindstone manages the fund and provides the venture-building support. Tolokazi was founded in 2019 by Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, a former SABMiller brewmaster and the first black woman in South Africa to own a craft beer business. The company is based in Johannesburg, has under 10 employees and already sells through South African retail and restaurants, with export agreements in the US and Europe. Tolokazi produces beers and ciders using indigenous African ingredients. The beer range includes a sorghum farmhouse ale with marula, a pale ale hopped with locally grown African Queen and Southern Passion hops, and a sorghum pilsner. Its signature beer, Wild African Soul, blends traditional umqombothi with Belgian brewing techniques and won gold at the African Beer Cup 2025. The cider range includes a rooibos and berry cider made with Clarens apples and a marula cider. South Africa’s beer market is led by AB InBev’s South African Breweries and Heineken Beverages. Craft beer holds a small share, and Black female ownership is rare. The Grindstone-MIC programme is designed to help Tolokazi scale operations and build the commercial foundations for its next round of funding.