The fund is set to boost investments in early-stage companies, which have had so far had to rely primarily on public money.
South Africa’s (SA) main universities are preparing to set up a University Technology Fund of funds to support academic institutions’ venture programmes.
Anita Nel, head of Innovus, the innovation entity of Stellenbosch University, in a guest comment for BDlive said: “The fund will thus provide the platform for investors to invest in the technology output of, eventually, all universities.
“Second, the intention is not for the fund to become the sole source of funding for each university. Each university will be able to increase its participation in its dedicated institutional fund by raising further investment, for example via its own funds or from alumni who wish to support a particular university.
“Ultimately, the[y] will anchor universities as the engine rooms of innovation and the knowledge industry, and create national wealth and jobs in accordance with international developments in the higher education sector. It has the potential to change the entire entrepreneurship landscape of SA and be the innovation spring on the African continent…
“For more than a decade, state institutions such as the Innovation Fund and its successor, the Technology Innovation Agency, have kept entrepreneurs hopeful, but the government was essentially the only significant early stage investor. This often produced outcomes that were less than satisfactory, and the absence of private capital in seed stage technology investment in SA remains a fundamental deviation from international best practice.”
