Silvertree Capital has ecommerce sweet tooth, sub-Saharan African focus

Africa’s tech investment landscape has gained a new fund which looks set to boost the emerging sector. The recently launched Silvertree Capital is a South African-based business incubator specifically targeting startups that cater to the South African and Sub-Saharan African markets.

The fund was founded by ex-Zando boss Manuel Koser whose controversial exit from the ecommerce company made news. Not surprisingly, Silvertree has made a number of investments in the ecommerce space — a sector that is currently booming in Africa. Other focus industries for the company include “online/mobile, B2C ecommerce and B2B2C sales.”

The company says that it will offer both seed and venture capital funding, while sourcing both ideas and entrepreneurs, refining candidate business cases, injecting capital and talent where necessary and playing an actively supporting role in their investments.

Having made seven investments since its March launch, it continues to look for worthy entrepreneurs.

Listed current Silvertree invested companies

Zando — Koser’s former company. The South African-based ecommerce fashion store with 200+ employees and 20K products on offer in a self-managed warehouse.

Jumia — This Nigerian-based ecommerce startup has been making news with with 100+ employees and 30K products on offer in a self-managed warehouse. Jumia received a multi-million Euro investment from international investors including JP Morgan, Summit Partners, Investment AB Kinnevik, Millicom, Blakeney Management and Rocket Internet.

Thornhill Associates — This is quite cool, this South African-based company provides and manages fully customised multi-rater online feedback systems, for use in management development. It has been profitable from year one.

Healthcart — This startups touts itself as South Africa’s leading online pharmacy and health destination with a huge variety of products from leading brands, unbeatable prices and free delivery above R500.

Vosto — A South African mobile app that allows users to order meals from local restaurants using their mobile device’s GPS capabilities. Vosto offers aggregation of food choices, a convenient user interface and the ability to place food orders from the the mobile app, thereby reducing waiting time.

Glamour — This Nigerian-based startup claims to be Nigeria’s number one online retailer for all things glamour for men and women — fragrances, skin-care, cosmetics, and promises much more to come. All of its items, it claims, are 100% authentic and “guaranteed to leave you feeling more glamorous than before.”

Sunglasses — A Nigerian-based startup that offers users a wide variety of leading sunglass brands and contact lenses for men and women. Its product range includes designer brands such as Ray Ban, Prada, Gucci, Oakley and more.