The business also supports a sought-after tech internship programme, providing skills and access to graduates.<\/p>\n
Xolani Zuma, Founder and CEO of Advannotech, attributes his business\u2019s spectacular growth to Standard Bank\u2019s ecosystem banking approach.<\/p>\n
Winning strategy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\u201cStandard Bank\u2019s knowledge and ability across the tech, management, and consultancy ecosystems meant they could foster the right relationships, further leveraged with the services they knew I needed at every stage of my growth journey.<\/p>\n
Even now, Standard Bank is looking ahead, planning my expansion into the continent,\u201d explains Zuma.<\/p>\n
Zuma, who describes himself as a corporate junkie, knew that his journey required the right banking partner.<\/p>\n
Value beyond collateral<\/strong><\/h3>\nFrom the outset, Standard Bank was deliberate about not looking at Advannotech as just another start-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy understanding me, my vision, capabilities, and experience, Standard Bank was able to craft a support-enabling strategy. In short, Standard Bank took the time to understand, and then bank on, me,\u201d says Zuma.<\/p>\n
At the very first meeting, Zuma encountered a diverse Standard Bank team, quickly able to understand Advannotech and its vision.<\/p>\n
Then, immediately, Standard Bank began\u00a0\u201cconnecting Zuma across our enterprise and business banking ecosystems, assembling the precise relationships and services that would support Advannotech\u2019s growth,\u201d says Simone Cooper, Head of Business Clients at Standard Bank\u2019s Business and Commercial Clients Division.<\/p>\n
With little more than a few hundred thousand rands revenue in Advannotech\u2019s account, Standard Bank helped Zuma chart a growth strategy that would increase revenue to R50 million in six years.<\/p>\n
Not only did Standard Bank then bet on this plan with their own capital, but they \u201calso focused their Enterprise Development team on securing opportunities with credible businesses that would ensure the plan worked,\u201d explains Zuma.<\/p>\n
Relationship capital<\/strong><\/h3>\nOnce Standard Bank assisted Advannotech establish a client base, Zuma was visited by a Standard Bank credit manager who advised on key acquisitions to take Advannotech national, enabling the business to serve clients and operate seamlessly across the country.<\/p>\n
Standard Bank is currently leveraging its African footprint \u2013 and wealth of relationships, contacts, and in-country technology sector expertise \u2013 to support Advannotech\u2019s expansion into Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt every step of my journey, Standard Bank has put the relationships, systems, and facilities in place to guide, and then enable, my growth,\u201d says Zuma.<\/p>\n
Networked for success<\/strong><\/h3>\nWithin 12 months of talking to Standard Bank, by the end of 2019, Advannotech boasted turnover of more than R500\u00a0000. A year later, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, Advannotech became a R15 million per annum business. By the end of 2021, Advannotech\u2019s annual turnover exceeded R20 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith average growth of 35% year-on-year, we\u2019re on track to achieve our R50 million turnover target by 2025,\u201d predicts Zuma.<\/p>\n
Despite these incredible business achievements, Zuma is most proud of Advannotech\u2019s internship programme.<\/p>\n
Building marketable skills for technology graduates also \u201cdeepens the ability of South Africa and Africa\u2019s technology sector to drive inclusive growth, enabling African technology to solve for Africa\u2019s future in tomorrow\u2019s world,\u201d says Zuma.<\/p>\n
Commoditising relationships<\/strong><\/h3>\nLeveraging Standard Bank\u2019s networks and systems to create value is proving a powerful growth enabler in the absence of capital or assets.<\/p>\n
By taking time to understand a business and, in this case, a single entrepreneurs\u2019 vision, and then matching this with the\u00a0\u201cability and opportunity within Standard Bank\u2019s larger ecosystem, the value of relationships themselves become bankable,\u201d says Cooper.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy business was built by a bank that in one conversation decided to bank on me \u2013 and then deployed its own relationships, networks, and capabilities to enable my growth journey every step of the way,\u201d concludes Zuma.<\/p>\n
From the outset, Standard Bank was deliberate about not looking at Advannotech as just another start-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy understanding me, my vision, capabilities, and experience, Standard Bank was able to craft a support-enabling strategy. In short, Standard Bank took the time to understand, and then bank on, me,\u201d says Zuma.<\/p>\n
At the very first meeting, Zuma encountered a diverse Standard Bank team, quickly able to understand Advannotech and its vision.<\/p>\n
Then, immediately, Standard Bank began\u00a0\u201cconnecting Zuma across our enterprise and business banking ecosystems, assembling the precise relationships and services that would support Advannotech\u2019s growth,\u201d says Simone Cooper, Head of Business Clients at Standard Bank\u2019s Business and Commercial Clients Division.<\/p>\n
With little more than a few hundred thousand rands revenue in Advannotech\u2019s account, Standard Bank helped Zuma chart a growth strategy that would increase revenue to R50 million in six years.<\/p>\n
Not only did Standard Bank then bet on this plan with their own capital, but they \u201calso focused their Enterprise Development team on securing opportunities with credible businesses that would ensure the plan worked,\u201d explains Zuma.<\/p>\n
Relationship capital<\/strong><\/h3>\nOnce Standard Bank assisted Advannotech establish a client base, Zuma was visited by a Standard Bank credit manager who advised on key acquisitions to take Advannotech national, enabling the business to serve clients and operate seamlessly across the country.<\/p>\n
Standard Bank is currently leveraging its African footprint \u2013 and wealth of relationships, contacts, and in-country technology sector expertise \u2013 to support Advannotech\u2019s expansion into Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt every step of my journey, Standard Bank has put the relationships, systems, and facilities in place to guide, and then enable, my growth,\u201d says Zuma.<\/p>\n
Networked for success<\/strong><\/h3>\nWithin 12 months of talking to Standard Bank, by the end of 2019, Advannotech boasted turnover of more than R500\u00a0000. A year later, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, Advannotech became a R15 million per annum business. By the end of 2021, Advannotech\u2019s annual turnover exceeded R20 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith average growth of 35% year-on-year, we\u2019re on track to achieve our R50 million turnover target by 2025,\u201d predicts Zuma.<\/p>\n
Despite these incredible business achievements, Zuma is most proud of Advannotech\u2019s internship programme.<\/p>\n
Building marketable skills for technology graduates also \u201cdeepens the ability of South Africa and Africa\u2019s technology sector to drive inclusive growth, enabling African technology to solve for Africa\u2019s future in tomorrow\u2019s world,\u201d says Zuma.<\/p>\n
Commoditising relationships<\/strong><\/h3>\nLeveraging Standard Bank\u2019s networks and systems to create value is proving a powerful growth enabler in the absence of capital or assets.<\/p>\n
By taking time to understand a business and, in this case, a single entrepreneurs\u2019 vision, and then matching this with the\u00a0\u201cability and opportunity within Standard Bank\u2019s larger ecosystem, the value of relationships themselves become bankable,\u201d says Cooper.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy business was built by a bank that in one conversation decided to bank on me \u2013 and then deployed its own relationships, networks, and capabilities to enable my growth journey every step of the way,\u201d concludes Zuma.<\/p>\n
Within 12 months of talking to Standard Bank, by the end of 2019, Advannotech boasted turnover of more than R500\u00a0000. A year later, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, Advannotech became a R15 million per annum business. By the end of 2021, Advannotech\u2019s annual turnover exceeded R20 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith average growth of 35% year-on-year, we\u2019re on track to achieve our R50 million turnover target by 2025,\u201d predicts Zuma.<\/p>\n
Despite these incredible business achievements, Zuma is most proud of Advannotech\u2019s internship programme.<\/p>\n
Building marketable skills for technology graduates also \u201cdeepens the ability of South Africa and Africa\u2019s technology sector to drive inclusive growth, enabling African technology to solve for Africa\u2019s future in tomorrow\u2019s world,\u201d says Zuma.<\/p>\n
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