Venture Capital Investors

There seems to be a lot of confusion on what thefunding requirements are for most of the VC's and Investors in SA.Here is a list of some of the most common sources for funding andVenture Capital Funds, in non particular order:

Invenfin:

Funding Stage: Early

Sectors of interest:  All

Investment Criteria:Must have UniqueIntellectual Property.Must be able to scale internationallyand have highvaluepotential.

TheyOffer: Early Stage Capital,supporting skills andnetworks as well as strategicadvice. Linked to RemgroLtd. forlarger funding opportunities.

Other: Big focus on innovation. This mayinvolve a newproduct, process,Software innovation, device, technnologyorbusiness model.

4Di:

Funding Stage:  Fulllife-cycle, from seed and early stagethrough togrowth and expansion financing 

Sectors of interest:  Promising technology, software, web,mediaandtelecommunications prospects 

Investment Criteria:  Demonstrable opportunity for substantial scalingandcreating a defensible marketposition 

They Offer: Capital,accessto global networksand resources, and..a strategic mentoring and partnershipapproach

Other : http://www.crunchbase.com/financial-organization/4di-capital 

For more info: proposals@4dicapital.com

Hasso Plattner Venture Africa: 

Funding Stage:Growth and Expansion

Sectors of interest: IT, Telecomms and CleanTech

Investment Criteria: Proven track record and based inSouth Africa, but must beinternationallycompetitive. Strong management team and must operate ina highgrowth market.Secure LegalFramework.

They Offer: Global Gateway via Hasso Plattner VenturesEurope. They Offer more thanjustcapital - provides a network ofexperienced entrepreneurs, partners,industrynetworks and thirdparty service providers.

Other: Must giveup equity, normally 25 -49%

For more info: www.hp-ventures.co.za—index.php

Powered by VC

Funding Stage: Early and Growth

Sector of interest: unspecified

Investment Criteria: Early stage companies with high growth potential in need of strategic direction and commercialisation support

They Offer: 

Other: Took over the HBD (Shuttleworth) VC portfolio.

For more info: grow@poweredbyvc.com

AcornEquity: 

Funding Stage: Growth and expansion

Sectorsof interest: Sub-saharan SME sector ingrowingindustries.

InvestmentCriteria:

TheyOffer: Investmentsthat fall below other companiesmandate. Theyfocus on deals below R100millionand because this isrelatively competitor free are able to negotiate favorablepriceswith target companies.

Other :

For more info:info@acornequity.com 

Intel Capital: 

Funding Stage: Early finance to growth andmerger

Sectors ofinterest: IT and Mobility

InvestmentCriteria:

They Offer: Vastresources, including insights into roadmaps,engineering methods, and access totheir labs.

Other: Intelfocus on givingentrepreneurial value beyond equity, helping to createefficient andrapid growth.

For more info: europe-capital@intel.com

Funding Stage: Early to development stage

Sectors of interest: All

InvestmentCriteria:Economicmerit in terms ofprofitability and sustainability,proventechnology and an established andgrowing customer base, asignificant impact e.g. job creation,  BEE etc

They Offer: Support of ideas not addressed bythemarket and serving as a catalyst for sustainable marketgrowth

Other: A large focus on ASGISA objectives and general development in the best intrestof the community istheir main objective

For more info: callcentre@idc.co.za

ISLabs:

Funding Stage: Early

Sectors of interest: South AfricanBasedInternet sites

Investment Criteria: All ideas canbesubmitted and voted on by the committee.

They Offer: Business and technicalmentorship,hosting internet access facilities and incubator levelfunding

Other: Minimal conditions, but ISlabs getsthe right for first refusal

For more info: http://www.islabs.co.za/user/register

Crowd Fund:

Funding Stage: Early

Sectors of interest: Online technologystartups

InvestmentCriteria: Must be an online company with globalapplication and aspiration,have a viable business model and must beable to complete stage 1 of thedevelopment process with R50-R100000

TheyOffer: Office space, bandwidth, hosting, legal advice anddesigners

Other:Many startups are applying to this fund so anorganized and well thought outapplication isessential.

For more info: eved@ideabank.co.za

If there are any others that you would like to add to this list or any edits that you think shouldbe made, please email engage@siliconcape.com 

Other useful links:

http://memeburn.com/2011/03/8-venture-capital-sources-for-your-startup/