The Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) intends to invest R150 million ($9M) in new black-owned enterprises. The MIC has opened the second window of applications for its venture capital initiative, MIC Khulisani Ventures, to support what it calls high growth potential and innovative businesses.
It is providing this financial assistance because it wants to support businesses that have already received seed funding (and are primarily black-owned) but are “not plugged into the dominant streams of venture capital networks.”
It says many of these businesses are “investment-ready,” and have ideas that can shift industries and society. But they do not get the boost they need at a key point in their development because of a lack of institutional support.
MIC Khulisani Ventures Invests In Two Startups
MIC Khulisani Ventures has made two investments so far.
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In May 2022, it announced an R23,5 million investment in Kelo Africa, an interactive digital bookstore and e-library. It had also invested R20 million in Rentoza, a subscription-based online electronics and appliances retailer.
MIC Khulisani Ventures will now offer up to R30 million in prize money to successful applicants. Except for primary agriculture and primary extractive industries, all sectors will be considered.
The following will assist the initiative:
- I Am An Entrepreneur: A network of business mentors
- Cadena Growth Partners: An advisory service
- Grindstone XL: A business accelerator
The MIC wants to be more transformative in the following application window.
“While the criteria for application do not change significantly this year, we are purposefully focusing on black female-owned or led businesses,” says MIC CEO Mary Bomela.
The MIC is open to supporting what it refers to as relatively young businesses in addition to supporting black women.
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In terms of where the demand for that kind of investment was relative to our ambitions, Bomela says, “We quickly learned that the field is slightly less developed than what we had initially envisaged.”
“Incidentally, this still gives us opportunity to diversify and reach as many businesses as possible especially those that are disruptors of market and show immense potential for scalability,” she adds.
Criteria for eligibility includes:
- At least 51% black South African ownership
- Black women owned businesses are encouraged
- Innovative product or service offering
- Disruptive within sector
- Scalable
- High growth potential
- Open to all sectors except fast food, mining, primary agriculture and franchises
- Post-revenue
- Minimum investment requirement of R15 million
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh