Wamly, Francois de Wet’s video interview software product, has received a second round investment from Knife Capital, a South African venture capital firm. Davey Gant, a UK-based Knife Capital partner, will join the Wamly Board of Directors as part of the agreement.
“I joined Wamly 18 months ago and I’m so proud of everything we have accomplished as a company. We have a team of 20+ talented local individuals, have built a world-class product and have received support from some of the biggest names in corporate South Africa,” says Broodryk. “Knife Capital is our ideal partner for this next growth phase with their deep experience and dynamic approach in taking African companies to the global stage.”
The funds will be used to increase marketing efforts, grow staff, and improve product development. Wamly’s goal is to solidify its position as the premier software program for recruiters in the local market, as well as to begin implementing international expansion plans across Africa and beyond.
Why The Investors Invested
“Sometimes venture capital investments just fall into place,” says Keet van Zyl, founding partner at Knife Capital. “I have an immense amount of respect for what Marnus has achieved in the South African entrepreneurial space, and when he told me about his new venture, the team behind it and the Wamly growth metrics, Knife Capital just had to take a closer look. We used Wamly for our own recruitment process during the due diligence exercise which underpinned the market opportunity. It has been a seamless journey so far and we are excited about executing on the disruptive growth strategy here!’’
Knife Capital operates KNF Ventures I and II’s Section 12J venture capital assets, as well as selected family office portfolios. Knife Capital is headquartered in Cape Town, with offices in London and Jersey. In 2010, the company raised its first investment. It also launched its Grindstone Accelerator program three years later to cultivate a pool of technology-enabled small and medium-sized businesses. The company followed up with a second fund in 2016. It, again, launched the Draper-Gain Family Office as a strategic investor a year later, and expanded to the UK to help portfolio companies develop internationally.
Read also Oracle Opens South Africa data Centre
A Look At What The Startup Does
Founded in 2020, Wamly specializes on one-way video interview software, which allows interviewers to provide candidates a link to complete a video interview with a pre-determined set of questions and a time limit. The recruiting team can then watch and assess the interview whenever it is convenient for them.
Marnus Broodryk, an entrepreneur and Shark Tank South Africa investor, used de Wet’s video interview software in his own accounting firm, and discovered its time saving ability. In this, he saw the potential to assist thousands of organizations all around the world in achieving the same ROI.
In 2020, Broodryk joined de Wet on the Wamly journey, challenging the very underpinnings of how the world has always done recruitment and leveraging cutting-edge technology to help the world employ better people faster.
Read also Africa’s Transporters Adopt Cellulant’s Technology in Bid to Digitize the Sector
“South Africa has a massive unemployment issue, and we don’t have the luxury of letting jobs stay vacant just because of long and outdated hiring processes,” says Broodryk.
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