# Grindstone Ventures

> Grindstone Ventures is a VC fund in Johannesburg backing Payments and Software. See 2 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Total investments: 2
- Last investment: Apr 2022
- Lead investor: 50%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grindstonexl/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/GrindstoneXL
- Website: https://grindstonexl.com/

Grindstone Ventures is a VC fund in Johannesburg focused on Payments and Software. Grindstone is a structured entrepreneurship development programme that assists high-growth innovation-driven companies to get the fundamental building blocks in place to scale quickly and become sustainable and fundable.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Payments | 1 | 50% |
| Software | 1 | 50% |
| Analytics | 1 | 50% |
| Financial Services | 1 | 50% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 1 | 50% |

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 50% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 50% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Locstat | Locstat is a unique and first of its kind Graph Analytics Platform, with customer driven industry and point solutions, incorporating Graph-based AI, Analytics and Event Processing, that enables organisations to rapidly scale next generation data intelligence solutions. |  |  | Apr 06, 2022 |  |
| Sticitt | Sticitt is a cashless payment platform. Sticitt services schools, lifestyle and golf estates, as well as events and is assisting one utility company to get clients to pay for water bills using its cashless payments system. |  | Seed | Mar 31, 2022 |  |

2 of 2 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [GalloProvincialis](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/galloprovincialis) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Grindstone](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/grindstone-2a44) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Hlayisani Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hlayisani-growth-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [NuState Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nustate-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Realm Digital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/realm-digital-1002) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar industry
- [Coinbase Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/coinbase-ventures) — VC Fund
- [Digital Currency Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/digital-currency-group) — VC Fund
- [Global Founders Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/global-founders-capital) — VC Fund

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
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- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

### Similar country
- [Launch Africa](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/launch-africa) — VC Fund
- [Knife Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/knife-capital) — VC Fund
- [4Di Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/4di-capital) — VC Fund

## Featured in investor lists
- [Payments VC Funds in South Africa](https://shizune.co/investors/payments-vc-funds-south-africa)

## FAQ

### What does Grindstone Ventures invest in?

Grindstone Ventures invests primarily in Payments, Software and Analytics startups, most often at Seed and Funding Round stage. Most of the 2 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in South Africa. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Grindstone Ventures last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Grindstone Ventures closed in Apr 2022. Shizune tracks 2 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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