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Knife Capital reveals deal with Swedish startup, bemoans lack of local funds
South African venture capital (VC) fund Knife Capital has co-invested in a Swedish startup alongside a Swedish fund, Knife Capital co-founder Keet van Zyl revealed today. “We just made an investment in Sweden, in a Swedish startup and we are quite proud of it. It’s our first investment outside of South Africa that we’ve done and we are quite proud of it,” said Van Zyl. Speaking at a Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (Savca) event held at the PwC offices in Cape Town today, he said Knife Capital would put out a press release likely next week which detailed the deal,...
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Meet the Top 10 finalists of Cell C’s Hangman innovation competition
The top 10 finalists of Cell C's R1-million innovation competition and reality show, Hangman, have been revealed. The show which premiered earlier this month on 8 October is hosted by Maps Maponyane and is broadcast on e.tv on Sundays at 11.50am. The finalists were selected by a panel of judges consisting of: economist Iraj Abedian, billionaire Quinton van der Burgh, Business Leadership South Africa CEO Bonang Mohale, and entrepreneur Connie Mashaba.whittled down from an initial group of 45 contestants. The Cell C Hangman winner receives a R1-million investment prize The eventual winner will walk away with a R1-million investment prize. "It was not an easy...
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SA’s Prosperiprop responds to poorly performing ICO, adding PROPX NanoChain
Following the lack lustre performance so far of its PROPX initial coin offering (ICO) SA startup Prosperiprop has added a new offering to its current ICO. The offering will allow investors to invest in software that will help financial institutions to offer property investment products via the blockchain. Prosperiprop CEO Llew Morkel told Ventureburn on Tuesday that the new opportunity Nanochain PROPX will allow ProsperiProp to become the supplier of a financial technologies platform that will be implemented by licensed financial institutions. The PROPX NanoChain will be developed for ProsperiProp by Lucid Ocean run by Jonathan Crossland and will be funded by a PROPX token sale currently...
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Zim startup Road Rules wins €5 000 at Innovating Justice Challenge semi-finals
Road Rules, a Zimbabwean provisional (learner's) driver's license test app, has been announced as the overall winner of the Hague Institute for Innovation Justice Challenge's (HiiL) Innovating Justice Challenge Southern African regional finals. Road Rules founder and CEO Tawanda Chikosi, beat six other legaltech startups to win €5 000 at a Boostcamp held two weeks ago in Johannesburg. As part of the prize, Chikosi will also attend HiiL's Justice Entrepreneur School (JES) this December. Through the challenge HiiL holds 10 regional finals. Those startups selected from each regional final will then be able to join the school and compete at the global final for a chance to join the...
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SA drone startup UAV Industries to enter three more countries after $499 000 deal
Hot on the heels of securing R6.84-million ($499 000) in funding from local investors Glenheim Venture Capital Company, South African drone operator UAV Industries plans to expand into at least three neighbouring countries over the next 18 months. The announcement of the deal was made yesterday by Glenheim Venture Capital Company, but was concluded three months ago. Speaking to Ventureburn today, UAVI Industries chairman Peter Venn said he could not confirm the amount in equity taken by Glenheim, explaining that the figure is based on future deliverables such as turnover and profit. Venn said the drone sector is a "highly regulated" environment and that it would take time...
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Here are the 15 SA tech startups that have netted $137.7m in 2017 deals
South African tech startups have concluded deals valued at over $137.7-million so far this year, shows data tracked by Ventureburn. Ventureburn has tracked and reported on 15 deals valued at over $137.7-million to date in 2017 -- including the $123-million acquisition in May of Cape Town startup GetSmarter by US listed company 2U. In all 12 of these deals involved Cape Town based startups, with one each based in Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Stellenbosch. If one excludes the GetSmarter deal, 14 tech startups have been able to raise $14.7-million this year (see the below graphic). In a further three deals reported on by Ventureburn the parties did not...
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New Economy Accelerator showcasing second cohort in Kuruman
The New Economy Accelerator (NEA), an SA initiative aimed at boosting economic inclusion, is today showcasing its second cohort at an exhibition currently under away at the Mothisbistad Multi-purpose Centre in Kuruman, in the Northern Cape. The investor showcase aims to connect local entrepreneurs with potential investors and key stakeholders. The organisers hope the showcase will also connect NEA participants with supplier development programmes that will help the startups scale their enterprises and create jobs. The New Economy Accelerator has worked with 20 enterprises and its convener claims these have collectively created up to 200 jobs Founded in 2013, the NEA aims to accelerate high-impact enterprises...
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Students app, wedding platform among 10 startups selected for Harare Seedstars
A platform that allows couples to plan and manage their wedding and an app that allows university students to share projects, ideas, and opportunities. These are just two of the 10 startups selected by Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets, to pitch at Seedstars Harare 2017 this Friday (27 October). The pitching event will take place at Impact Hub Harare. The 10 startups will battle it out for an opportunity to represent Zimbabwe at the Seedstars Summits in Mozambique later this year in December and Switzerland in April next year. Seedstars Harare will take place on 27 October at Impact Hub Harare This will...
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Livestock Wealth wins R1.3m at SAB Foundation Social Innovation Awards
Livestock Wealth, which uses crowdfarming to allow anyone to become a beef farmer, last night grabbed a first prize of R1.3-million at the 2017 SAB Foundation Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards for their GrassBeef platform. Over R9-million was awarded to 24 startups at a ceremony held last night in Johannesburg. The awards are held by the SAB Foundation in collaboration with Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). RailPro, a transport solutions startup developing vehicles that drive on both road and rail grabbed the second prize of R750 000. Chemstart, a mini-science kit developed for high school learners and cashmere wool processor Ivili Lloboya jointly won the third place prize...
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Ghanaian lending platform Bloom Impact plans to expand following funding close
Ghanaian lending platform Bloom Impact, which last week landed an undisclosed amount in seed funding from a Canadian fund, plans to enter three other African markets in the next three years. "We are currently laser-focused on customer usage and growth, product enhancements and revenues in the coming months in order to successfully close a seed round in early 2018," said Bloom Impact co-founder Carol Caruso in an email to Ventureburn yesterday. Caruso said the startup has mapped out a forecast of two to three other countries for expansion in West Africa over the next three years, such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Senegal. Bloom Impact...
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