HAVAÍC has secured $25 million of its $50 million African Innovation Fund 3 from financial services group Sanlam Multi-Manager, Fireball Capital and the SA SME Fund.
This is the second close of the African Innovation Fund 3 adding up to $50 million and marking Sanlam Multi-Manager’s first allocations to South Africa’s VC industry.
According to Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC, “Welcoming Sanlam Multi-Manager into our Fund 3, along with added commitments from the SA SME Fund and Fireball Capital, is a testament to our track record for not only delivering leading returns by supporting African-born businesses, but also creating meaningful social and economic change through our investments. Together, we can continue supporting our continent’s dynamic tech entrepreneurs and grow African VC to new heights.”
Launched in August 2024, The African Innovation Fund 3 is earmarking 15 investments in early-stage, high-growth, and impactful post-revenue investments born in Africa with regional and global growth potential. The second close coincides with the fund’s latest investments into SAPay and a follow-on investment into Sportable.
Acting as a lead investor in the fintech’s first external funding round, HAVAÍC backed SAPay with a US$1 million investment in July as part of a larger funding round, a second US$1 million follow-on investment in Sportable, investments in Pan-African payments platform NjiaPay and livestock trading platform SwiftVEE.
In a statement, Sanan Pillay, Head of Private Markets at Sanlam Multi-Manager, “Our due diligence showed that HAVAÍC has an extensive track record of successfully investing in the local tech space. They are also very capable of supporting businesses to scale and internationalise their operations – this is key to succeeding in the tech sector.”
Today’s announcement of Fund 3 comes on the back of two landmark transactions from HAVAÍC’s fully deployed Fund 1 and Fund 2.
Most recently, the VC’s portfolio company RapidDeploy was acquired by US-listed Motorola Solutions, marking one of the largest tech exits in South Africa’s history.
In addition to the RapidDeploy exit, the hearX Group merged with Eargo to form LXE Hearing in April and raised US$100 million in fresh capital.
“HAVAÍC has leveraged its deep industry expertise, extensive network, and disciplined investment strategy to build a standout portfolio of high-potential start-ups. Their professional approach to fund management and attentiveness to investors offers reassurance that our needs will be met,” added Claudia Manning, Principal at the SA SME Fund.