Impact Hub expands to the Cape Winelands to strengthen community-driven innovation

The organisation’s first location in the Western Cape aims to empower local changemakers and support sustainable, community-owned solutions.

Impact Hub has opened a new space in the Cape Winelands, establishing its first footprint in the Western Cape and its second location in South Africa.

The organisation is part of a global network spanning more than 130 hubs across over 70 countries, supporting a community of more than 500,000 innovators, entrepreneurs, and mission-driven organisations working toward a fairer and more sustainable future.

The Cape Winelands hub was launched by Marli Goussard (CEO), Jasmine Jacob (Communications & Community Lead), and Danie Jacobs (COO and Programmes Lead), who set out to build a collaborative environment for local impact-driven entrepreneurs.

The new space is designed to bring together community leaders, government, academia, business, and civil society to develop solutions to some of South Africa’s most urgent social and economic challenges.

“We believe that the people who experience societal issues firsthand are also the ones best positioned to design practical solutions,” said Goussard. “Our mission is to equip and connect these local problem-solvers so their initiatives are community-led, community-owned, and capable of generating both social and economic value.”

Goussard adds that when communities co-create and own the tools to address their challenges, the outcomes tend to be more sustainable, trusted, and rooted in real-world experience.

“This approach strengthens relationships, builds trust, and results in initiatives that are not only more relevant, but also more equitable than top-down interventions,” she explained.

Unlike traditional incubators focused purely on business growth, Impact Hub Cape Winelands aims to bridge academic research, public policy engagement, and grassroots entrepreneurship. The hub will prioritise community-owned businesses—meaning it will champion small, locally rooted ventures driven by residents seeking to create meaningful change, rather than chasing the next high-growth ‘unicorn.’