HCI Foundation (Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited)

The HCI Foundation is the corporate social investment arm of HCI, a black empowerment investment company whose origins lie in the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union. The HCI Foundation says its primary concern is uplifting all people in South Africa.

Registered name

HCI Foundation (Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited)

Type

Corporate foundation (black empowerment investment company)

Fields funded

Honours and postgraduate diploma study at selected institutions

Website

hcifoundation.co.za

Phone

+27 21 481 7560

From a union to an investment group

HCI, Hosken Consolidated Investments, grew from union roots into a diversified investment holding company with interests in gaming, media, hotels and transport, according to a provider record checked in August 2026. That history explains the foundation’s focus on ordinary working people and their communities.

Education at every level

The HCI Foundation’s education funding covers primary, secondary and tertiary levels, aiming to support people throughout their educational journeys. The foundation also runs a Grant Programme for non-profit organisations that help South African communities become self-reliant and sustainable, and the foundation says it aims to build organisations’ capacity for sustainable, ethical growth beyond funding alone.

The HCI Foundation’s website features its work in early childhood development, including reflections on the 2024 Thrive by Five Index and on the impact of the Ubunye Foundation’s early childhood programmes.

A bursary by invitation

The HCI Foundation’s bursaries have focused on returning bursary recipients and on new applicants at honours and postgraduate diploma level at a list of named institutions. The HCI Foundation has permanently discontinued its online application platform, and applications now come by invitation through selected universities.

That change means students cannot simply apply online. A student at a participating university may be invited or nominated, while students elsewhere will not have access to this route.

How to find out whether you can apply

Ask your university’s financial aid or postgraduate funding office whether it is one of the HCI Foundation’s partner institutions and how it selects students to put forward. Check the HCI Foundation’s website for the current list of institutions, because the list can change.

Non-profit organisations interested in the Grant Programme should read the grant criteria on the foundation’s website, since the grant and the bursary follow different processes.

Students interested in the foundation’s early childhood and community work can follow its news posts, which describe visits to projects in provinces such as the Free State and show where HCI Foundation funding goes.

Honours students can compare other funders on our Postgraduate Bursaries page.