There seems to be a lot of confusion on what the funding 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 and Venture Capital Funds, in no particular order:
Angelhubventures
Starting out in 2011 as the first angel group in SA, we matured into an early stage Venture Capital firm in January 2014. Operating out of Stellenbosch in South Africa and backed by two family offices we are passionate about early stage investments in (South) Africa. Being entrepreneurial ourselves, we thoroughly understand the challenges and changes our founders face – which is why we back them in any way we can. Most importantly, we believe in building great businesses and we are in it for the long haul.
Invenfin
We invest in remarkable people who are building world-class businesses, helping them to scale globally. Big focus on innovation. This may involve a new product, process, software innovation, We offer an Early Stage Capital, supporting skills and networks as well as strategic advice. Linked to Remgro Ltd. for larger funding opportunities.
EchoVC
EchoVC Partners is an experienced seed & early stage technology-focused venture capital fund focused on financing and cross-pollinating leading technologies, teams and business models in Sub-Saharan Africa, North America and South-East Asia. As stage-agnostic investors with a combined network of local and global connections, we bring a disruptive approach to investing at the technology intersection of consumer, media, data, & devices and leverage knowledge transfer from Silicon Valley as a driver to seed growth across borders.
I/O Ventures
i/o ventures is an early stage seed fund that focuses heavily on mentorship
We work closely with founders from product launch through the next stage of company development, sharing what has proven to work for product scaling, revenue growth and fund raising.
Our partners and mentors have started and run some of the top internet companies. We want you to take advantage of our experience leading teams, building great products, raising money, negotiating mergers and acquisitions, and scaling infrastructure; all with the hope that you dramatically improve your execution and time-to-market (and not repeat our mistakes!). We take pride in our roles both as founders and operators. Each of us has recently or is currently running a technology company. We understand the most common challenges that all entrepreneurs face.
Adlevo Capital
Adlevo Capital is the first private equity firm focused on investments into technology-enabled companies across sub-Saharan Africa. We are a Mauritius-based private equity fund manager founded on the belief that meaningful development in sub-Saharan Africa will be driven by the application of technology to business processes across all sectors.
We make equity and equity-linked investments in rapidly growing private companies in various stages of development. These companies derive their competitive advantage from the development and exploitation of technology or technology-driven processes.
eVentures Africa Fund
eVentures Africa Fund (eVA Fund) is launched in January 2010 by Vincent Kouwenhoven and Brian Hirman. Both founders combine years of experience in business development, management consulting, online business, digital marketing and venture capital. eVA Fund is dedicated to mobilize capital and experience in the Netherlands/Europe to invest in small and medium sized African internet related companies. eVA Fund focusses on development in terms of capital and business development support, i.e. knowledge, experience, access to proven business concepts/applications, and network.
The target region is sub-Saharan Africa. Please check out the overview of our investment criteria. The ultimate goal of eVA Fund is investing capital and knowledge to strengthen small and medium sized internet related enterprises thus securing and creating jobs and income for large African communities and with that, generating attractive financial returns for investors. We invest in companies that use technology within Africa to build world-class platforms that deliver local content for Africa.
Africa Media Venture Fund
Africa Media Ventures Fund mobilizes capital and experience in the Netherlands to invest in entrepreneurs in the media sector and small and medium sized African media companies. We offer a combination of venture capital and business development support, involving knowledge, experience, access to proven business concepts/applications and network. Our capital investment will range from EUR 15,000 to EUR 100,000.
Our investors are experienced media entrepreneurs with a passion for Africa who will be involved in the management of the portfolio companies through visits and board membership. We focus on Target region sub-Saharan Africa (SA excepted), first focus on Kenya, Uganda and Ghana.
KnifeCap
Knife Capital is a leading Southern African Venture Capital investor focusing on technology-enabled ventures for a sustainable impact on innovation, job creation and growth. We believe that tomorrow’s largest investment gains will be achieved by companies that are active in solving today’s problems. Therefore, our strongest investment interest is in companies which, through technology and innovative management, seem capable of turning such solutions into successful businesses. Knife Capital aims to be the funding partner of choice for Southern African innovation-driven ventures that have the potential to disrupt high-growth industries in the knowledge-based economy while having a positive social impact.
4Di
4Di Capital is an independent early-stage technology venture capital firm based in South Africa’s “Silicon Cape”. Nurture capital is the term that best describes 4Di Capital’s purpose and philosophy. We understand that in the early days of any business, support, mentoring and access to networks is just as important as seed capital.
Using tried and tested international venture capital best practices, adapted for local use, we believe in agile entrepreneur-friendly finance without frills, and in working as a team with our investees to achieve their true potential. We look for founder teams with hungry passion, commitment, domain expertise and deep insights into the large market problems they wish to solve with their technology solutions.
4Di Capital Early-Stage Technology Fund 1 targets startup investment opportunities with high growth potential at the seed- and early-stages in the mobile, enterprise software and web sectors. 4Di Exponential Tech Fund 1s’ mandate will include early- and growth-stage investments, focusing principally on scalable technology opportunities in the FinTech, HealthTech and InsureTech verticals, particularly those with ambitions to reach international markets.
Hasso Plattner Venture Africa
Hasso Plattner Ventures invests in fast-growing, information technology-driven companies in Europe, South Africa and the USA on behalf of Prof. Dr. h.c. Hasso Plattner, co-founder and chairman of software giant SAP. The support we offer reaches beyond financial commitments. Our multifaceted work includes acting globally as a strategic partner for our information technology growth companies. In Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany, as well as in Cape Town, South Africa, our commitment has taken also the form of a seed program for information technology startups.
IDC
We provide finance for industrial development projects, play a catalytic role in promoting partnerships across industries within and outside our borders, and promote regional economic growth. We do this by:
– Proactively identifying and funding high-impact and labour-intensive projects;
– Leading the creation of viable new industries;
– Using our diverse industry expertise to drive growth in priority sectors; and
– Taking up higher-risk funding projects.
ISLabs
ISlabs is a virtual incubator and a business linkage facilitator. What this means is that ISLabs provides free technology and business support to early stage startups. Startups submit business plans to ISlabs and selected proposals are then forwarded to a panel of senior IS management and independent advisors. If the concept gets the green light, ISLabs will work with the idea’s originators to develop a support plan that ranges from business and technical mentorship to hosting and Internet access facilities. Temporary free hot desk space and access to IS boardrooms also assists startups who don’t always have business-like premises while they are still finding their feet.
EdgeGrowth
We’ve been committed to job creation through the growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) since 2007 and we’ve proven that a holistic, end-to-end approach to ESD is the only way to deliver measureable impact. Success requires removing any and all of the growth constraints facing SMEs – financial and non-financial.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the resources and support they need to make their ideas a reality. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community.
AcornEquity
Acorn is a specialist private equity fund manager and investment advisor focused exclusively on Sub-Saharan Africa. Founded in 2009, Acorn is a dedicated partner to all our investee companies, fostering sustainable businesses and generating long-term value for all stakeholders.
The Acorn investment team is committed to exceptional performance, uncompromising integrity, honesty and ethical business practices. These principles allow us to encourage value creation and support growth as opposed to maximising returns to the detriment of our underlying portfolio companies. Acorn specialises in a vital but often-overlooked sector of the market, being small and medium enterprises. SMEs are a critical growth driver in Sub-Saharan Africa and capital invested in these enterprises truly has the power to transform those businesses and uplift communities. Well-managed investments in this sector can also earn an astute investor exceptional returns.
Intel Capital
Intel Capital is a division of Intel Corporation, set up to manage corporate venture capital, global investment, mergers and acquisitions. Intel Capital makes equity investments in a range of technology startups and companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, mobility, consumer Internet, digital media and semiconductor manufacturing.
Trium Investments
A Triangle has the most stable characteristics of any geometric figure found in nature. It cannot be distorted by a parallel shift, it has a favorable centre of gravity and it offers a diverse and dynamic basis for construction, just to name a few.
TriVest does not only incorporate this word in its name. We incorporate it in our philosophy in order to assure that proven principles of nature facilitate us in growing a sustainable and competitive company. We focus primarily on three industries (Healthcare incl. Biotech; Renewable Energies; and Security) in order to reduce complexity in our portfolio. We support our portfolio companies via three pillars: funding, resources and networks, thereby becoming a core strategic growth partner to them.
Business Partners
We are a specialist risk finance company that provides customised financial solutions, sectoral knowledge, mentorship, business premises and other added-value services for formal small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa and selected African countries. We’re passionate about funding, supporting and mentoring entrepreneurs, or as we like to call them, the square pegs in round holes.
Horizon Equity
Partnering with exceptional companies since 1992
Horizon Equity Partners is one of South Africa’s longest established private equity firms with an investment track record dating back to 1992. Our executives have collectively initiated and managed equity investments in over 40 companies across a wide range of industry sectors, but with an emphasis on technology, media & telecommunications.
We specialise in the provision of growth capital and buyout capital to small and medium sized enterprises at all stages of development except start-up.
Other useful links: