This Women’s Month, the most important stories in entrepreneurship may not be found in boardrooms or corner offices, but among the women building businesses that solve real-world problems. Across South Africa, a new generation of female founders is using innovation and technology to address some of the country’s most pressing social and economic challenges. Among them are Bongiwe Mkhumbeni, Abigail Grace Larsen and Sine Shabalala, entrepreneurs whose businesses are helping tackle food insecurity, youth employability and access to jobs.
Turning food waste into opportunity
For Bongiwe Mkhumbeni, the inspiration behind FoodLoop came from a contradiction she could not ignore: every day, perfectly edible food goes to waste while millions of South Africans face food insecurity. Her solution was FoodLoop, a platform that connects retailers, restaurants and bakeries with nearby consumers, charities and community kitchens, ensuring that surplus food reaches those who need it most instead of ending up in landfills.
For Mkhumbeni, entrepreneurship is about more than building a business. It’s about solving problems that matter. If your business can improve someone’s life, then you’re creating impact that goes beyond profit.
Creating pathways to possibility
For Abigail Grace Larsen, the challenge was never a lack of talent among South Africa’s youth. It was a lack of access. Recognising that many young people struggle to find opportunities that could change the course of their lives, she founded Thallo, a platform that connects students and graduates with bursaries, scholarships, internships and career opportunities. By making these opportunities easier to access is helping young people unlock their potential and take meaningful steps towards their future careers.
Thallo has continued to grow, securing capital through social entrepreneurship competitions, a fundraising campaign and YouthX, which enabled the team to bring on a paid developer and accelerate the platform’s development. They have now launched their minimum viable product web app and begun its first pilot with approximately 20 volunteers and 7 community organisations, including a partnership with Stellenbosch University, with the pilot phase focused on testing and improving the platform ahead of a broader launch.
Connecting people to opportunity
Sine Shabalala founded OneWay Connect to address a disconnect she observed in the labour market, where talented job seekers and employers searching for skills often struggle to find one another. Through her recruitment platform, she is bridging that gap, helping businesses identify suitable candidates while giving job seekers greater access to employment opportunities. In doing so, she is tackling one of South Africa’s most persistent challenges and demonstrating how technology can be used to create more inclusive economic opportunities.
YouthX came at an important stage in Oneway Connect’s journey, when the business was still primarily a recruitment management software company. Since then, it has evolved into a talent intelligence platform using workplace simulations and AI-powered behavioural insights to help businesses make better hiring decisions.
The company has expanded across industries and beyond South Africa, including supporting recruitment in Kenya, while introducing AI-powered resume intelligence, candidate scoring, assessments and structured interviews. Most importantly, YouthX helped form part of this growth journey, as Oneway Connect continues to create opportunities for young job seekers to demonstrate their skills beyond their CVs and interviews.
While their businesses operate in different sectors, Bongiwe, Abigail and Sine share a common belief that entrepreneurship can be a powerful force for positive change. Their journeys also highlight the importance of support beyond funding. People often think funding is the biggest challenge for entrepreneurs. Funding is important, but mentorship, exposure, and having the right people believe in your vision can be just as valuable.
As entries for the 2026 Nedbank YouthX Awards opened on 14 August, these entrepreneurs serve as a reminder that some of South Africa’s most promising solutions are being built by young women who see challenges not as barriers, but as opportunities to create lasting impact. For the next generation of women entrepreneurs, the message is clear: Meaningful change begins when someone is willing to take the first step.
