SA startup Mobenzi receives R16m investment from Edge Growth

Andi Friedman is feeling “energised and excited” following a R16-million investment his startup Mobenzi received from the Vumela Fund.

Friedman said the Series-A funding served as a good recognition of all the hard work the company has done. He said the fund, which is managed by FNB and Edge Growth, took a significant minority stake in Mobenzi.

The startup clinched the investment after taking part in one-on-one mentoring with accelerator and capital advisory firm Impact Amplifier. The accelerator provided the company with strategic support as well as other acceleration services.

Mobenzi was founded in 2009 by Friedman and Pete Fowles. The two have developed a suite of products which include a range of flexible mobile apps and software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms. This suit can rapidly be configured to apply to a variety of sectors.

Mobenzi’s platform is aimed at those who work directly with customers and enables mobile interactions such as data collection and case management.

The platform is also by nature, self-service while still providing a solid foundation for flexible turnkey solutions. An example of this is the Community Health Worker Service used in the Western Cape and the North West.

‘Mobenzi is a powerful enabler for job creation’

“We are excited to have the Vumela Team on board. We are at a critical stage of our growth, and having a long-term partner, which can help us scale and is aligned with our social mission, is imperative,” said Friedman, earlier in a press release to Ventureburn.

Impact Amplifier partner Maximilian Pichulik said Mobenzi will use the investment to help the company to build their suite of products and accelerate their expansion internationally.

Pichulik said the accelerators was attracted by Mobenzi’s commercial scalability and the company’s strong focus and talented team.

Edge Growth fund head Richard Rose added that the startup is an exciting addition to the fund’s investment portfolio. “Their software solutions will be a powerful enabler for job creation, and be globally competitive with the best out there.”