Positioning Partners selected for Youth Advance Top 100 just seven months after launch

Founded by two young South Africans from township and rural backgrounds, the Johannesburg-based marketing and public relations agency aims to build a sustainable business that creates employment and supports small business growth.

JOHANNESBURG, 17 October 2026: Positioning Partners (PP), a South African integrated marketing and public relations agency founded in March 2026, has advanced to the Top 100 stage of the 2026 Youth Advance entrepreneurship development programme.

The selection marks a milestone for the seven-month-old, 100% Black-owned, youth-owned and female-led agency. Its Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ofentse Rapakgadi, will represent the business at the Youth Advance Pitchathon from 20 to 22 October 2026.

Supported by King Price Insurance in partnership with Primestars, the YouthStart Foundation and Seed Academy, Youth Advance equips young South Africans aged 18 to 35 with entrepreneurship skills, mentorship and business development support. The programme aims to strengthen sustainable enterprises that can contribute to economic participation and employment creation.

According to the programme's published framework, its selection pathway progresses from 1,000 applicants to the Top 100, followed by the Top 30 and ultimately 10 finalists who receive further business development support.

From township and village roots to entrepreneurship

Positioning Partners was established by two young South Africans, aged 34 and 28, who grew up in a township and a rural village, respectively.

Together, the founders bring over 18 years of combined professional experience across more than 35 sectors.

Rapakgadi, an MBA-qualified former marketing executive and the first in her family to attend university, previously held senior marketing and communications leadership positions in higher education and property. She transitioned into full-time entrepreneurship when she co-founded Positioning Partners earlier this year.

The agency helps corporates, growing businesses and individual leaders strengthen their positioning, visibility and reputation through integrated marketing, public relations, thought leadership and executive profiling.

In September, the agency reported securing five earned-media placements through three client opinion articles, including coverage in the Sunday Times, Business Day and Sowetan.

Building a business that creates opportunities

Beyond its commercial ambitions, Positioning Partners has a longer-term vision of contributing to employment creation in South Africa, particularly among young people.

The founders intend to pursue this through two approaches: growing an agency capable of providing sustainable employment and establishing a structured programme that dedicates professional marketing and public relations expertise, at no cost, to promising small businesses with genuine growth and job-creation potential.

“We founded Positioning Partners on the belief that being excellent should not mean being overlooked. Too many capable businesses struggle to reach customers, communicate their value and access opportunities. We want to build an agency that helps address these challenges while creating opportunities beyond our own business,” said Ofentse Rapakgadi.

The proposed small-business support programme would be introduced once the agency's revenue can sustainably support it. 

“Our ambition is to build a commercially successful agency that creates jobs directly and helps other businesses grow to a point where they can create jobs too. Youth Advance is an opportunity to strengthen the commercial foundations that will make this vision possible,” Rapakgadi added.

During the upcoming three-day Pitchathon, Ofentse Rapakgadi will join fellow entrepreneurs to refine their business pitches, receive expert feedback and compete for progression to the Top 30.

For Positioning Partners, the immediate priority is to build a sustainable, competitive agency whose commercial success can ultimately create opportunities for others.

About Positioning Partners

Positioning Partners (PP) is a Johannesburg-based, 100% Black-owned, youth-owned, female-led and Level 1 B-BBEE integrated marketing and public relations agency established in March 2026.

The agency helps corporates, growth-stage SMMEs and individual leaders make their value known through integrated marketing, public relations, personal branding and reputation management.

Its founders bring over 18 years of combined professional experience across more than 35 sectors. Positioning Partners' purpose is to help capable and credible organisations and leaders become understood, trusted and chosen.