OPUS and Investec Wealth & Investment International have reopened the Investec Early-Stage Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, raising the investment pot from $60,000 to $250,000, roughly R4.2-million.

The number of categories has doubled from five to 10. Entry is restricted to founders leading companies under four years old and pre-Series A, and applications are open now at theeasies.com.

The categories cover professional services, enterprise software, consumer products, finance, health and wellness, deep tech, education and work, creativity, climate, and female entrepreneurship, so the net is wide.

One global winner receives $250,000 in investment from Day Zero, and every category winner joins the OPUS delegation to Davos and receives a year of OPUS membership with access to its founder community and events.

Cumesh Moodliar, chief executive of Investec South Africa, is on the judging panel for the creativity category. The first edition offered £10,000 and a Davos trip across four categories, so the change is substantial rather than cosmetic.

Note what is not yet public: the closing date for submissions is listed on the awards site rather than in the announcement, and the terms of the $250,000, whether it is equity investment and on what basis, have not been detailed in any coverage. Worth reading the entry terms before applying, particularly on that point.

Disrupt Africa reported the reopening and Moodliar's comment that great entrepreneurs create value beyond their own businesses through employment, investment and industry strength. The awards site carries the category list, judging panel and key dates. OPUS set out the original rationale when the programme launched last year, arguing most awards wait until a founder has already made it.

Take this for what it is. An application costs you time and nothing else, and the eligibility bar, under four years old and pre-Series A, covers a large share of the founders reading this.

Local context matters here too. South African venture exits return 2.01 to 2.45 times invested capital, broadly in line with mature markets, but the ecosystem is still short of the introductions that turn a good company into a funded one. Ten categories also means better odds than a single prize, and being shortlisted is itself a credential you can put in a deck.

You might also like our piece on what South African venture exits actually return, Mamor Capital's R300-million first close, and the Next Wave Fund closing at the end of the month.

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