Best Food and Agriculture Companies in Gauteng, South Africa
The 65 best Food and Agriculture companies in Gauteng, South Africa in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Promasidor.
Our analysis of 653 Food and Agriculture companies
$71.7b in tracked funding; 82% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Food and Agriculture companies in Gauteng
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Promasidor 🦄 Multi-category food & beverage company | $532M | 94 mo ago | Series C | Robert Rose Founder | 1979 | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+21 | 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 2 | Merensky Timber Leading forestry and timber processing company supplying Pine and Eucalyptus timber | $20M | 43 mo ago | Late Stage | Johan De Graaf CEO | 1949 | WordPressMySQLPHP+18 | 4 job openings |
| 3 | Refreshhh Carbonated soft drink brand | — | 109 mo ago | Late Stage | Mike Benjamin CEO | 2006 | WordPressMySQLPHP+23 | — |
| 4 | Awesome Snacks Manufacturer of savory snacks | — | 110 mo ago | Series A | Theo Bakkum Co-Founder & Director | 2003 | — | — |
| 5 | Universal Industries Manufactures and supplies kitchen equipment | — | 180 mo ago | Acquired | — | 1996 | WordPressMySQLPHP+8 | — |
| 6 | Aces Brew worx Premium beer brand | — | — | Deadpooled | Lliam Co-Founder | 2013 | — | — |
| 7 | Andiccio24 Chain of limited service restaurant offering pizza | — | — | Unfunded | — | 2010 | WordPressMySQLPHP+14 | — |
| 8 | Aquaponics Direct Supplier of aquaculture equipment | — | — | Unfunded | Rikalize Reinecke Founder | 2017 | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+21 | — |
Top 5 Food and Agriculture companies in Gauteng
#1
Late Stage · Johannesburg, Gauteng · founded 1949 · 167 employees$20Mraised▾
Producer and supplier of pine and eucalyptus timber intended for construction, furniture, joinery and other uses. The company offers a wide variety of hardwood and softwood timber adhering to local and international standards for environmentally-sustainable forestry management practices for local DIY enthusiasts, handymen, hobbyists and small-scale builders.
#2
Series C · Sandton, Gauteng · founded 1979 · 2620 employees$532Mraised▾
Promasidor is a multi-category food & beverage company. Their products include dairy products, beverages, cereals and more. Their brands include Cowbell, Loya, and Miksi. The company sells the majority of their products in South Africa.
#3
Late Stage · Johannesburg, Gauteng · founded 2006—raised▾
Refreshhh is a carbonated soft drink brand. Its products include various flavors such as apple, coco pine, cola, cream soda, ginger beer, granadilla, grape, iron brew, lemon, lemonade, litchi, orange, pineapple, and raspberry. Also offers energy drinks and water. Sells its products through retailers. Its products are available in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho.
- Apr 2017PE—
#4
Series A · Germiston, Gauteng · founded 2003—raised▾
Awesome Snacks is a manufacturer of savory snacks such as naks, puffs, and drinks. The company claims that their products are tartrazine and MSG free.
- Apr 2017Series A—
#5
Acquired · Randburg, Gauteng · founded 1996 · 2000 employees—raised▾
Operator of a holding company specializing in the manufacturing and distribution of industrial equipment. The company's subsidiaries offer refrigerated display cases, beverage coolers, polyurethane insulated panels, retail baking equipment, specialty glass and glass doors, enabling the food retail, wholesale, hospitality, manufacturing and related industries with quality parts.
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Food and Agriculture coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Agritech is moving in South Africa
A read on the academic research around Agritech — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 124 South Africa-affiliated papers.
- University of KwaZulu-Natal15
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research14
- North-West University14
- University of Fort Hare11
- University of the Free State10
- Agriculture5
- Sustainability2
- Vulnerability (computing)2
- Resilience (materials science)2
- Disaster risk reduction2
- Agriculture4→23
- Agricultural productivity2→5
- Productivity4→5
- Agriculture11→37
- Climate change2→18
- Food security1→8
Where agritech is researched across South Africa
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.