Naspers has taken a major decision to shut down its R1.4 billion ($100M at launch) South African-focused technology investment fund, Foundry, a development which has unsettled the entire South African startup ecosystem.
When Naspers Foundry launched in October 2019, its CEO Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa stated that the fund would only operate for three years, and the move to dissolve Foundry may be in keeping with that objective. In addition, the company has recently sold itself of a number of other technological enterprises, including a stake in Tencent, a Chinese digital juggernaut.
While it lasted, Naspers Foundry invested in several South African startups, including a R30 million investment in SweepSouth, an online platform for home and business cleaning services that links reliable cleaners to customers; a R100m investment in Aerobotics, an agricultural company that provides the agricultural industry with tree crop health and intelligence data using drone and satellite-enabled AI technology; an investment of R45m into 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. The fund also invested in Food Supply Network, AI-driven insurtech firm Naked Insurance, an “on-demand earned wage access platform” Floatplays, a financial consulting fintech company LifeCheq, a short term insurance startup, Ctrl, among others.
read also Naspers Denies Rumours of Selling Stake in Tencent
Although Foundry’s closure is a setback, it does not necessarily signal the start of a significant decline in South Africa and Africa VC.
Foundry was founded in 2016 with the primary goal of investing in South African early-stage technological start-ups. Its goal was to help these start-ups grow and flourish by providing them with the necessary financing and resources to succeed.
The group’s international venture subsidiary, Prosus Ventures, will now handle investments in South African startups.
Naspers foundry shut down Naspers foundry shut down
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