G-Lab: Where new entrepreneurs build real ventures.
G-Lab gives emerging entrepreneurs what a classroom can't: concrete, hands-on experience of creating value for real customers and communities — backed by coaching, incubation, shared experience and a network that opens doors.
Entrepreneurship is learned by doing. G-Lab turns emerging talent into entrepreneurs with real-world proof of the value they can create.
South Africa has no shortage of capable, ambitious young people. What many lack is the chance to take an idea all the way — from a customer's problem to a live product, a launch and a pitch to people who have invested in them.
G-Lab closes that gap. Over several months, a small team runs a real venture as if it were their own start-up: they find a problem worth solving, build the product, win their first customers and present the results to their shareholders.
We surround them with the support that makes it work — coaching, incubation, experience from people who have done it, and a network that turns effort into opportunity.
Coaching
An experienced, dedicated coach guides the team every step — regular full team days and one-to-ones focused on each entrepreneur's growth.
Incubation
A real venture, run the start-up way — agile sprints, live demos to a CEO and accountability to shareholders.
Experience sharing
Practitioners and founders share what they've learned the hard way — through masterclasses, reviews and honest feedback.
Networking
Entrepreneurs meet customers, community leaders, business people and industry experts — relationships that last well beyond the programme.
Real stakes. Real people. Real accountability.
G-Lab isn't a simulation. The entrepreneurs run their venture day to day, answer to a real CEO and treat their funders as shareholders who expect a return on their investment.
- Real customers — every sprint includes time with the people the venture serves.
- Monthly CEO demo — live, working product. No slides.
- Monthly shareholder update — what shipped, what we learned, what we need.
- Final presentation — the return on investment: value created, traction, skills and impact.
From a real problem to real value.
Seven phases, run in two-week sprints. A programme can start at any time of year — what matters is that every phase ends with something real in the hands of customers or the community.
Discover
Conversations with the people who live the problem every day.
Validate
Evidence that people care enough to change what they do today.
Design
Real users shape the product from the first sketch.
Build
Early users get something useful — and tell us what's missing.
Beta
Feedback turns into improvements people can see.
Launch
Real value delivered to real customers or the community.
Pitch
A clear proposal for what happens next with the venture.
The 2026 programme.
Our first cohort of emerging entrepreneurs is in the Discover phase right now — out in Cape Town, listening to real customers and hunting for the problem their venture will solve.
One path, four ways to walk it.
G-Lab sits alongside the other Proven Path initiatives — each built on real-world expertise, shared by people who do the work.
Proven Path Academy
Hands-on AI training for professionals, taught by practitioners.
Visit the Academy PPCProven Path Connect
A peer community where people share what's working, swap real experience and help each other move faster.
Visit Connect PPSProven Path Strategy
AI advisory that helps leadership teams turn ideas into measurable outcomes. Prioritise. Align. Execute.
Visit StrategyProven Path Incubation
G-Lab — where emerging entrepreneurs build real ventures with coaching, incubation, experience sharing and networking.
You are hereYour experience is the missing ingredient.
The most valuable thing a new entrepreneur can get is access to people who've done it. Here's how you can help — most of it takes an hour.
Share a problem
Run a business, a community project or work with customers? Give a team a 20-minute interview about a problem you face. Real problems make real ventures.
Share your experience
Lead a masterclass, join a sprint review or play the sceptical shareholder at a pitch rehearsal. Tough questions build strong entrepreneurs.
Sponsor a cohort
Companies, foundations and public programmes can fund a G-Lab cohort — and receive the updates and final presentation as shareholders.
Mentor or hire
Looking for talent with proof of real work? Every G-Lab entrepreneur leaves with a live product, a portfolio and customer experience.
Open a door for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
An hour of your time — an interview, a masterclass, a tough question at a pitch rehearsal — can change a young entrepreneur's trajectory. We'd love to hear from you.