Investec gets into the fibre game with Vumatel investment

This is interesting. Ivestec, the specialist bank and asset manager has acquired a minority stake in Vumatel, a disruptive fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) startup.

While neither party divulged how much the investment is worth or how much of a stake it gives Investec in Vumatel. The latter did however reveal that it planned to use the investment to up its fibre roll-out rate.

“With Investec’s support, Vumatel will be better positioned to accelerate its roll-out to communities across South Africa. This partnership will furthermore assist in speeding up both transformation within the economy and changing the lives of consumers.” says Niel Schoeman, CEO Vumatel.

“Vumatel is delighted to have Investec, which shares our vision of creating a connected South Africa, as a shareholder in the business. This investment provides the business with the ability to connect up to 100,000 homes by 2016 and therefore further entrench Vumatel as the leading FTTH player in the market. This investment will allow us to deliver word class connectivity, choice and superior customer service to every community that requests it,” concludes Schoeman.

Read more: From startup to fintech empire: WiGroup sells stake to Investec for ‘R400m’

For its part, Investec seems to be betting on the future growth of FTTH in the country.

“We are very excited about our investment in Vumatel. We like the business and the experience of the management team. They have lead the FTTH revolution in South Africa, setting the bar for the industry in how it should be done. Their commitment to creating affordable high speed open access fibrehoods through focus on customer service will have a fundamental impact on the telecommunications industry,” says Kobus Viljoen of Investec.

While it’s not the investment company’s first tech investment — earlier this year it acquired a major stake in WiGroup — but it is probably its most high profile investment outside of the financial space.