South Africa's academic tech transfer sector will be supported by a $10.2m vehicle backed by the $96m SA SME Fund.

South Africa is set to form a R150m ($10.2m) university venture fund in August to support spinouts from the country’s tertiary academic institutions, Engineering News has reported. The vehicle will be established by the $96m SA SME Fund, a public-private fund-of-funds partnership targeting VC, growth and impact investors, with the aim of nurturing 200 small businesses to generate 20 world-class companies. Stellenbosch University and University of Cape Town are also thought to be weighing contributions to the fund, as is government-owned development finance institution Industrial Development Corporation. The fund’s target segments include engineering, IT, biotechnology, space tech and medical devices, and there will be a dedicated $1.7m seed capital component to help nascent university concepts build up commercial viability. Launched in March 2019, SA SME Fund has so far committed about $49.5m from its initial vehicle, with around half of the sum invested in tech-focused venture capital entities, and the remainder funnelled into initiatives supporting entrepreneurs in South Africa’s traditional sectors of strength. Investments by SA SME Fund to date have included a $8m commitment to hardware-focused incubator and venture fund Savant expected to benefit 10-15 businesses, with 50% of the investment earmarked for black African-owned companies. Other investees include local VC fund Knife Capital, VC firm 4Di Capital and impact investment vehicle Firebird. SA SME Fund, which is setting up a biotech-focused fund of undisclosed size alongside the university fund, is anticipated to be fully committed by the end of 2019, and there are plans to launch a successor with a new pool of investors.

Subscribe to go deeper

GCV subscribers get access to all our proprietary data and deep-dive articles, as well as the global directory of CVC investors.



Not sure if you have a subscription?