(Beth Arendse, BASA CEO: pic supplied)
Deadline for Applications: September 10 2025
Business and Arts
South Africa repositions supporting grants programme to drive innovation in the
creative sector.
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) is excited to announce a fresh repositioning of its flagship Supporting Grants Programme, signalling a new way of supporting the creative sector and strengthening partnerships between the business and arts. This update aims to spark innovation, increase impact, and build sustainable, high-value collaborations.
For more than 25 years, the Supporting Grants Programme has been at the heart of BASA’s work, providing a platform for partnerships that deliver both cultural and business value. It has helped create hundreds of collaborations that have enriched South Africa’s creative landscape while bringing measurable benefits to business partners. With this new approach, BASA is rethinking how partnerships can work in a fast-changing world — where adaptability, shared value, and long-term sustainability are key.
The revised programme shifts focus away from funding completed projects and instead supports early-stage development and new ideas— helping to fund proof-of-concept and prototype projects that can be tested, refined and prepared to grow. By providing a safe space to experiment, BASA aims to help promising ideas attract investment, access markets, and gain visibility.
Beth Arendse, BASA CEO, says: “This repositioning is an important next step to keep the Supporting Grants Programme relevant, responsive and catalytic. We’re creating a space for experimentation where bold ideas can grow and encourage stronger partnerships between artists, entrepreneurs and business. Innovation is a survival skill in today’s economy. We want to see creatives and corporates co-create solutions, open new markets and build ventures that last.”
The programme responds to calls from the sector for catalytic, early-stage support that allows creative practitioners to take calculated risks and test their ideas in partnerships with businesses, before scaling up. BASA will prioritise applications that show real collaboration between creatives and businesses — whether small local enterprises or large corporates — and that address urgent economic, social or environmental challenges. The focus is on projects with the potential to become viable, investable ventures with clear and measurable impact.
To ensure broader impact, BASA will introduce a learning framework to capture and share insights from supported projects. This will help successful projects inform wider sector strategies, encourage replication and strengthen the creative ecosystem.
Applications for the Supporting Grants Programme close on September 10 2025. For full details, eligibility criteria and guidelines, visit www.basa.co.za. An online webinar on BASA Supporting Grants 2.0 will take place on September 2, 2025. For enquiries, contact sipho@basa.co.za.
About Supporting Grants 2.0
BASA’s Supporting Grants 2.0 are more than funding — they are seed investments in creativity. These catalytic micro-grants support short-term pilots designed to demonstrate how innovation at the intersection of culture and commerce can create tangible value for both business and society. They are about testing bold ideas, proving their potential, and paving the way for greater investment and sector-wide transformation.
The Supporting Grants 2.0 are made possible through the generous support of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC).
Posts
