Catherine Young

Catherine Young is an African entrepreneur with executive level experience across a number of
businesses, including a successful corporate career, holding various senior and executive positions
in companies including Deloitte, Chevron and SAP Ariba.
Her capabilities are underpinned by deep engagement and care for people across her work career.
As the founder of Thinkroom, she is involved in entrepreneurial ecosystem development across
Africa and the UK, as well as acceleration programmes through her co-ownership in Grindstone
Accelerator. She is an SME ecosystem influencer in Africa and works with clients in the space of
entrepreneurship development across the continent. Catherine also co-founded Grindstone
Ventures, a post-seed, pre-series A fund for businesses in the Grindstone Growth Engine.
Catherine holds a B.Comm with specialisation in Marketing and National Diploma in Procurement
from the University of South Africa and Nelson Mandela Bay University respectively.