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HAVAÍC completes first close of its African Innovation Fund 3
The fund has secured $15 million in commitments for its first close.
Cape Town-headquartered venture capital firm HAVAÍC has announced the first close of its African Innovation Fund 3, which has a target of $50 million.
In partnership with cornerstone investors Universum Wealth and The SA SME Fund, as well as local and international family offices, the fund has secured $15 million in commitments for its first close in July 2024.
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.
The VC firm launched its first $6 million Fund 1 in 2016, followed by its $20 million Fund 2 in 2020.
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, added, “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.”
Most recently, HAVAÍC completed an investment in sports data and analytics company Sportable, plus follow-on investments in RNR, RapidDeploy, hearX Group, and AURA.