HAVAÍC completes first close of its US$50m African Fund 3
Africa
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02 Aug 2024
The South African venture capital firm HAVAIC has announced the first closing of its $50 million African Innovation Fund 3.
In collaboration with cornerstone investors Universum Wealth and The SA SME Fund, as well as local and international family offices, the fund secured US$15 million in commitments for its first closure in July 2024.
The African Innovation Fund 3 intends to make 15 investments in early-stage, high-growth, post-revenue businesses that originate in Africa and have regional and global growth potential.
The investments, ranging from seed stage to Series A and B, will strengthen HAVAÍC's portfolio, which now serves over 20 million clients in 190 countries worldwide.
This is HAVAIC's third African-focused fund, and the largest to date. The venture capital firm established its inaugural US$6 million Fund 1 in 2016, followed by its US$20 million Fund 2 in 2020. Both funds are fully deployed and on course to accomplish more exits, after HAVAÍC's milestone fifth exit last year.
The SA SME Fund is part of an expanding group of top institutional investors putting money into the local VC industry. This, paired with a recent spike in new funding backing Africa's entrepreneurs, bodes well for the continent's flourishing startup environment. HAVAÍC's primary markets are South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Ian Lessem, managing partner at HAVAÍC, said, “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, added, “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.”
Ketso Gordhan, CEO of The SA SME Fund, commented: “Our commitment to HAVAÍC represents the fifth commitment by The SA SME Fund’s Venture Capital Fund of Funds to a leading Venture Capital 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.”
The announcement comes after HAVAÍC's 2023 results, which showed a 400% growth in total yearly income and a milestone fifth exit. During the reporting period, the VC generated 193% in total realised exit returns and 120% in total unrealised carrying returns.
HAVAÍC recently made investments in Sportable, RNR, RapidDeploy, hearX Group, and AURA. RapidDeploy was awarded one of Fast Company's Most Innovative firms in March, and the Financial Times' 2024 list of Africa's fastest-growing firms included hearX Group (#10), FairMoney (#12), and AURA (#27).