While most business or entrepreneurial competitions focus on cash rewards, in the Route to Market competition, there’s no prize money — and that’s intentional. Instead, entrepreneurs gain what’s truly priceless: access to decision-makers, strategic input and lasting business relationships.
About the competition
The Route to Market competition – now in its third year but its first featuring uMngeni-uThukela Water as a category sponsor – is designed to support and accelerate the growth of emerging businesses in the country’s most critical industries. Through partnerships with Aspen Pharmacare (medical and health category), DHL (logistics) and uMngeni-uThukela Water (water), the competition provides entrepreneurs with real access, real networking and real opportunity.
Finalists in each category receive specialised mentorship and business learning from GIBS faculty and industry experts and undergo intensive pitch preparation, culminating in two rounds of pitching to senior executives and decision-makers from their respective category sponsors.
A deserving winner
For Sbu Khumalo, a taxi driver who has built himself into a serial entrepreneur and is now the founder of FlexDeploy Hydro — and ultimately the winner of uMngeni-uThukela Water Route to Market 2025 — the experience has been nothing short of transformative.
FlexDeploy Hydro develops compact, modular hydropower systems that generate clean electricity from existing water infrastructure, offering a scalable, cost-effective solution to South Africa’s energy and water challenges. Sbu’s ability to combine technical feasibility with sustainability made him a standout contender in this year’s competition.
“The journey of being an entrepreneur is a lonely one, so to meet people like the panel of judges, who have an enormous amount of knowledge and are willing to help you navigate this journey, was incredible,” says Khumalo, a serial entrepreneur and former taxi driver. “From the first meeting we had, they gave me strategic input that helped me streamline my ideas and processes, which helped me improve my pitch in the second round. These intense one-on-one sessions have given me a very clear direction of where my business is going.”
Real access. Real networking. Real opportunity.
He adds that the real reward of this competition lies in the relationships built along the way. “As a small business owner, trying to get to speak to decision-makers in this industry is like trying to crack a rock with your fist, but this competition places you right at the table with them. Having that kind of access — and receiving their support and guidance — is worth more than any prize money. The real value of Route to Market lies in the connections it creates.”
This approach reframes entrepreneurship support — moving from short-term prize incentives to long-term business opportunity and ecosystem growth. Because when doors open, opportunity follows.
Turning access into opportunity
For Sbu and FlexDeploy Hydro, winning uMngeni-uThukela Water Route to Market 2025 is not an endpoint, but a starting point. With sharper strategic clarity, strengthened industry relationships and direct access to a leading South African water treatment organisation, the business stands at the threshold of meaningful opportunity. As FlexDeploy Hydro looks ahead, its journey signals what’s possible when innovation and access intersect — and when entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to meet the market on equal footing.
For more information about the uMngeni-uThukela Water Route to Market challenge and future opportunities, please visit www.routetomarket.co.za/
