Cape Town-headquartered venture capital (VC) firm Havaíc has announced the first close of its $50 million (R912 million) African Innovation Fund 3.
According to a statement, the fund secured $15 million in commitments for its first close in July, in partnership with cornerstone investors Universum Wealth and SA SME Fund, as well as local and international family offices.
The African Innovation Fund 3 is earmarking 15 investments in early-stage, high-growth, post-revenue investments born in Africa with regional and global growth potential. From seed stage to Series A and B, the investments will fortify Havaíc’s portfolio of 20 businesses, which already serve over 20 million customers in 190 countries across the globe, it says.
This marks Havaic’s third African-focused fund and its largest to date. The VC firm launched its first $6 million Fund 1 in 2016, followed by its $20 million Fund 2 in 2020. Now fully deployed, both funds are on track to realise additional exits, adding to Havaíc’s fifth exit achieved last year, it notes.
SA SME Fund is among a growing cohort of institutional investors channelling capital into the local VC industry. This, combined with a recent surge in new funds supporting Africa’s entrepreneurs, bodes well for the continent’s thriving start-up ecosystem in Havaíc’s key markets of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, according to the VC company.
Ian Lessem, managing partner at Havaíc, comments: “Our deepening relationship with institutional investors means we can support more African tech entrepreneurs in scaling into new markets and generating diversified revenue for reinvestment into Africa.
“A thriving VC ecosystem translates into economic growth and the creation of skilled local jobs. We are proud to support positive change in Africa and beyond, and thank our partners for supporting our vision.”
Jonathan Sieff, managing partner at Universum Wealth, adds: “We continue to be impressed with Havaíc’s trademark expertise and proven ability to source compelling opportunities, which deliver market-leading returns.
“Supporting Ian and his team has been a key part of our client offering. Alternative, uncorrelated assets enable our clients to sensibly diversify their portfolios and generate higher returns over chosen investment time horizons.”
The announcement follows the recent release of Havaíc’s 2023 results, reflecting a 400% increase in total annual revenue. During the reporting period, the VC delivered 193% in total realised exited returns and 120% in total unrealised carrying returns.
Most recently, Havaíc completed an investment in sports data and analytics company Sportable, plus follow-on investments in RNR, RapidDeploy, hearX Group and AURA.
Ketso Gordhan, CEO of SA SME Fund, says: “Our commitment to Havaíc represents the fifth commitment by SA SME Fund’s VC Fund of Funds to a leading VC firm.
“These VC funds are at the forefront of finding innovative solutions to intractable social problems, allowing us to realise commercial returns to our investors, while at the same time achieving real impact. We are delighted to be working with Havaíc in their new fund.”
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