South Africa’s Secha Capital has announced a first close of ZAR300 million (US$15.7 million) of its second fund, the target size of which is ZAR650 million (US$34 million).
Launched in 2017 by Nombuso Nkambule, Brendan Mullen and Rushil Vallabh, Secha Capital runs an operator-investor model that places highly-skilled human capital resources into its portfolio companies to work on high impact value creation projects that deliver exponential growth for its entrepreneurs.
Its first fund proved that the combination of equity investments and human capital for growth-stage businesses is a replicable model for generating financial returns and social impact, particularly in women-founded businesses in South Africa.
Secha Capital Fund II will follow a similar mandate, and has now concluded a first close of ZAR300 million (US$15.7 million). Investors include RMB Ventures, 27four Investment Managers, the SA SME Fund and Caleo Capital.
The fund, which is targeting a final size of ZAR650M (US$34 million), invests in traditional companies across sectors in Southern Africa that are making the tech-enabled transition into the green economy.
The new fund has already made four investments, in iG3N, Cultura Fresh, Herbivore and FarmTrace, and plans to make 10 more investments within the next five years.
“We invest in companies at an inflection point in their growth trajectory. Most capital in Southern Africa is invested in either extremes — early-stage startups or mature companies. We’ve identified a gap in the market where we can find a unique proprietary pipeline and bring in our team of operator investors to achieve outsized returns,” said Vallabh.
