Futuregrowth - Afrikan Heroes

A New $36M Fund Is Coming To South African Startups

July 3, 2022

Futuregrowth Asset Management, a South African manager of R193 billion in fixed-income assets, is launching a fund to invest in startups with a significant developmental impact.

According to a statement from Futuregrowth, the business intends to raise as much as R600 million ($36M) by the end of the year for the Futuregrowth High Growth Development Equity Fund, a closed-end, limited-life fund. Andrew Canter, the money manager’s chief investment officer based in Cape Town, believes that South Africa’s second-largest city offers ample investment potential.

fund south african startups — *Andrew Canter is Futuregrowth’s chief investment officer. Source: Futuregrowth*

“There are some real hives of activity going on out there,” Canter said, adding that he had witnessed a great deal of commercial activity while cycling 30 kilometres to and from work.

Futuregrowth has invested in companies such as Retail Capital, a small business lender observed by Canter on his commute to work.

Futuregrowth joins investors such as Naspers in supporting the resurgence of Africa’s biggest industrialised economy’s startup scene. Last year, early-stage companies attracted almost R12 billion in venture finance, a ninefold increase since 2016. To capitalise on the potential, Naspers established Naspers Foundry, which invests in startups.

Futuregrowth, which is supported by Old Mutual Ltd., has a 16-year-old Development Equity Fund with R3.4 billion under management that has made approximately ten early-stage investments and “can see it working,” according to Canter. The fund’s mandate is expansive, encompassing infrastructure, social services, clean energy, agriculture, and regional development.

In 2016, amid an era of alleged rampant corruption under former President Jacob Zuma, the specialist money manager garnered attention when it ceased lending money.

“Don’t promise the earth, do what you can do, deliver it,” he said. “That’s why my infrastructure fund has been going since 1995 — just keep doing it properly in a sustainable, appropriate way. It’s not a get-rich quick scheme, it’s a sustainable business.”

According to the business, the High Growth fund would have a four- to five-year draw period and a five- to six-year repayment period.

“What’s exciting for the rest of my career is establishing this early stage fund and doing those deals, dealing with those entrepreneurs is much more inspiring than dealing with malfunctioning SOEs,” Canter said.

fund south african startups fund south african startups

Futuregrowth Makes Exceptional Pre-seed Investment In South African Startup Impulse Biomedical

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

Futuregrowth Makes Exceptional Pre-seed Investment In South African Startup Impulse Biomedical

April 1, 2021

Futuregrowth Development Equity Fund (DEF) has committed for the first time in a startup— Impulse Biomedical — in the pre-seed phase, which does not yet generate income, but whose solutions and services could “revolutionize the technologies of health in South Africa.”

*Amrish Narrandes, Head of Unlisted Asset Transactions at Futuregrowth*

Here Is What You Need To Know

The vehicle managed by South African investment firm Futuregrowth did not disclose the amount invested in Impulse Biomedical, a biomedical engineering platform headquartered in South Africa.

“While we normally focus on late stage venture capital investments, Impulse Biomedical is an exception. We salute its revolutionary technology and products which, together with its founding team, give us confidence that this investment will grow ever larger, ”commented Amrish Narrandes, Head of Unlisted Asset Transactions at Futuregrowth.
Read also:Mauritius Sets Up Committee To Clear Way For Fintech Startups

Healthcare technology is one of the priority areas for investment at Futuregrowth. In a note published earlier this year, the firm said it will target sectors with attractive investment opportunities, such as energy and technology, during 2021.

Impulse Biomedical will bring to market by April 2023, two medical devices that will provide relief to asthma patients and help patients allergic to foreign substances.

With the covid-19 crisis, digital-backed health solutions are increasingly attracting the interest of investors on the continent.

Over the past three months, North Africa has attracted international donors who have funded and acquired significant shares in hospitals and health care centers.

Futuregrowth makes investments from its Futuregrowth Development Equity Fund, a venture capital fund devoted to supporting disruptive businesses and propositions that show strong high growth potential. Futuregrowth just recently, in 2020, invested in SweepSouth.

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

South African Startup SweepSouth Secures Funding From Futuregrowth

July 16, 2020

South Africa’s “Uber of cleaning services” SweepSouth has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from asset manager Futuregrowth, making the investment firm SweepSouth’s newest investor, after the startup raised $2 million from Africa’s largest company Naspers, and another $3.3m from Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, musician and venture capitalist Black Coffee and from existing investors Naspers Foundry, Smollan, Vumela, CRE VC (previously Africa Angels Network) in 2019.

*Aisha Pandor, co-founder and CEO of SweepSouth*

“We are uplifted each time we see our SweepStars referred to in this way, as it represents how a positive idea can take shape and can change the negative language that has been so deeply entrenched,” Aisha Pandor, co-founder and CEO of SweepSouth said.

Here Is What You Need To Know

The latest investment from Futuregrowth adds to Futuregrowth’s portfolio of innovative, early-stage growth companies.
The investment would further help SweepSouth achieve its strategic goals going forward.
Earlier this year Futuregrowth invested in Lifecheq, a digitised private wealth management business. In late 2018, the asset manager also made another venture capital investment in Yoco, the innovative technology-driven point-of-sale payments provider

Why The Investor Invested

SweepSouth’s latest investment appears probably easier given that the startup had previously been backed by investors such as Naspers, and CRE VC.

“SweepSouth is an early-stage business disruptor that, instead of solving a Silicon Valley problem, is solving South African-specific problems. The company has taken a large segment of the informal sector, which is one of the biggest employers in South Africa, and formalised it, giving people protection and security in their working environments,” Amrish Narrandes, head of unlisted equity transactions at Futuregrowth, said.

Futuregrowth makes investments from its Futuregrowth Development Equity Fund, a venture capital fund devoted to supporting disruptive businesses and propositions that show strong high growth potential. .

“SweepSouth has played a material role in empowering previously vulnerable informal workers by giving them a voice and the ability to control their destiny because they have flexibility and control over their own time,” Amrish added.

A Look At What The Startup Does

Founded in 2014 by Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic, SweepSouth is a South Africa-based online platform for booking, managing and paying for home cleaning. The startup has also expanded its offering to gardening and pool cleaning, heavy lifting, fixing and maintenance, and most recently, to commercial sanitation.

SweepSouth’s services are currently available in South Africa’s four major metropolitan areas: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.

“We went from the two of us working around our dining-room table — both of us sitting all day and working on this business plan — to going from a few domestic workers we were interviewing ourselves,” Pandor said, “ and even went from cleaning houses ourselves to having 11,000 domestic workers on the platform”.

In 2018, the startup reportedly reached $7 million (R100 million) in revenues.

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 write

South African Startup LifeCheq Raises Funding From VC Firm Futuregrowth

June 13, 2020

South Africa’s Futuregrowth Asset Management through the Futuregrowth Development Equity Fund (DEF) has invested in LifeCheq, a digitised holistic personal finance business that aims to make expert advice accessible to professionals and entrepreneurs who are currently not served well by the existing financial advice industry.

Futuregrowth unlisted equity transactions head Amrish Narrandes. — Futuregrowth unlisted equity transactions head **Amrish Narrandes**.

“What we most liked about LifeCheq is that it has taken something like personal finance, which can be complex and as a result easily avoided, and uses technology to offer a financial service in an attractive way to a far broader market,” says Futuregrowth unlisted equity transactions head Amrish Narrandes.

The business has two target markets, mainly individuals for their personal use; and employers, who are interested in offering their employees a financial wellness programme.

These potential markets give it diverse sources of revenue and expand the reach of the business across a variety of individuals and company employee bases, says the company.

Futuregrowth notes that LifeCheq’s competitive edge is that it tailors and personalises financial advice to suit different individuals with different risk profiles by using data and algorithms to generate solutions.

Narrandes notes that LifeCheq more than met Futuregrowth’s investment requirements.

“We also took comfort from the fact that the business had already built up traction and had proved its credentials and, as a result, we bought into the business vision and proposition,” Narrandes says.

“Most importantly, the business has an impressive management team, with all the credentials and experience to qualify as an A-team. The four co-founders and members of the executive management team have a diverse range of experience from financial services product design to software engineering,” says Futuregrowth investment analyst Kearon Gordon.

LifeCheq aims to become the primary way in which clients engage with their finances and navigate their most important life decisions.

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.