NASPERS is preparing to invest more resources to drive digitisation and build more jobs in South Africa in 2021 through its venture capital arm Naspers Foundry. One sector which would most likely benefit the most is edutech, which CEO Van Dijk said its potential excites him a lot.
“It’s one the business lines that we have invested in that I am most excited about. If you look at where the world is going, I think there is huge part of the population in Africa and East Asia that need to be educated, and most of the young people are found between Africa and Asia,” said Van Dijk.
“If you look at the infrastructure in terms of education available in those markets, there aren’t enough traditional schools and higher education institutions to get people skilled up at the scale that is necessary, I think technology will absolutely be necessary to lift the next generation of youngsters into well-skilled, productive grown-ups.”
Naspers Foundry Invested $13m In 2020 And Looks To Do More
According to Fabian Whate, Head of Naspers Foundry, the company invested R200 million to help four South African tech startups in 2020.
“We are bullish about 2021 and we want to accelerate our investment in digitisation. We are going to deploy more capital to do more deals than we did in the past years. In the next few months we are expecting to announce one or two more deals for 2021,” Whate said.
Naspers Foundry is a R1.4 billion startup financing initiative based in South Africa that helps young and innovative South African technology entrepreneurs create and expand their companies.
It has invested R30 million in SweepSouth, an online platform for home and business cleaning services that links reliable cleaners to customers. R100m was also invested in Aerobotics, an agricultural company that provides the agricultural industry with tree crop health and intelligence data using drone and satellite-enabled AI technology.
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A further investment of R45m has been made by the business in The Student Hub, an online learning platform that improves access to vocational education for large numbers of students while reducing the cost of education and training delivery.
Naspers Foundry closed a transaction in Food Supply Network in September last year on undisclosed terms. Food Supply Network is an independent B2B marketplace that combines the ordering systems of food goods producers, distributors, and buyers.
Read also: Why More South African Startups Have Raised Funds This Year
How South African Startups May Pitch To Naspers Foundry
Naspers Foundry is already engaged in outreach screening activity, but does have a rolling application call on its website open to any startup that meets specific criteria.
Heading up review of online investment applications is Minette Havemann, Naspers Foundry’s strategy director.
Anything For Other Non-South African Startups?
Although Naspers Foundry will not back startups outside South Africa, Mahanyele-Dabengwa, CEO of Naspers South Africa, had noted last year, that its parent — Naspers — can finance ventures anywhere on the continent, if it sees the right opportunity.
[However] Founders from other parts of Africa with startup operations in South Africa can be considered for funding, she clarified.
The South African media group has invested less (and been less successful) in Africa, in contrast to its robust global activities.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer