Salt Capital, a prominent player in the investment arena, has recently made a significant move by acquiring a stake in Response24, an innovative B2B SaaS platform technology company operating in Africa. This strategic investment marks the first venture of Salt Equity I, an investment vehicle managed by Salt Capital. Response24 specializes in revolutionizing emergency, security, and service sectors across the African continent by focusing on monitoring and reducing response times.
The brainchild of Marlize Holtzhausen, a visionary African tech entrepreneur, Response24 quickly demonstrated its value proposition by collaborating with one of South Africa’s largest security firms. Building upon this success, the company expanded its technological footprint throughout Africa via a licensing agreement with a leading global security solutions provider.
Marlize’s remarkable achievements have not gone unnoticed, earning her global acclaim with prestigious awards such as the ‘Global Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’ at Google Fest in 2014 and the ‘Tech Entrepreneur of the Year’ title at the Africa Woman Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) awards in 2020. Response24 has also been recognized by the South African ‘Department for Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs’ and the ‘International Labor Organization,’ securing the top spot in the ICT category with the support of esteemed partners like Microsoft.
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Salt Capital’s investment injection will serve the dual purpose of accelerating Response24’s B2B platform rollout across 41 African nations and fostering groundbreaking innovation within the company. The disruptive and highly scalable nature of Response24’s offering also opens doors for expansion beyond the African continent, with the potential for launching additional modules on their embedded platform.
Jannie Grobbelaar, a Partner at Salt Capital, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, highlighting Marlize’s entrepreneurial spirit and the potential for global success. He stated, “We are hugely excited to be working with Marlize, a truly remarkable and inspirational entrepreneur, and her passionate and talented team. The disruptive nature of Response24’s technology means the business will need to be ready for the global stage in the short to medium term. Salt Capital intends working closely with the business to ensure growth remains sustainable with a focus on value creation.”
Salt Capital’s investment in Response24 aligns with their gender-smart investment strategy. Jannie emphasized their commitment to supporting female entrepreneurs in Africa and offering guidance and support, even when opportunities fall outside their typical investment scope.
Marlize expressed her excitement about partnering with Salt Capital and the shared commitment to making a meaningful impact. She stated, “We are very excited to be partnering with Salt Capital at this crucial point in our business. We believe our values in making a meaningful impact are aligned, and my team and I look forward to accelerating the growth of the business with their support and invaluable guidance. Response24 will continue investing in innovation to ensure our direct and indirect customers remain confident in our offerings as we strive to evolve into a lifestyle and service-driven AI technology business to support and enhance the everyday lives of our end users.”
Salt Capital, established in 2012, is a private equity investment firm primarily focusing on growth capital investments in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Their latest fund, Salt Equity I, is dedicated to investing in SMEs, with a particular emphasis on consumer-facing sectors.
For nearly a decade, Salt Capital has been actively investing in African SMEs through investment consortiums. The launch of their new Salt Equity I Fund marks a strategic shift in their investment approach, with the aim of raising $100 million by December 2023 during the final closing of the fund. These resources will be deployed to strengthen their commitments to businesses in the sub-region, signaling Salt Capital’s unwavering dedication to fostering growth and innovation in the African business landscape.
Response24
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