SAVCA Venture Capital Conference 2022 Speakers
The 2022 line-up will feature key thought leaders in Southern Africa that will explore this year's theme.
Aadil Omar
Founder:
Strat-Tech
Aadil Omar
Aadil is an investment professional with 15 years’ experience across several financial services and capital allocation functions including Corporate Finance/M&A, Investment Banking, Portfolio Management, Hedge Funds and Venture Capital.
n 2016, Aadil along with 3 like-minded financial services professionals founded Strat-Tech, a venture consortium supporting businesses leveraging technology to solve obvious problems. Strat-Tech first led the initial investment round of EM Guidance, a healthcare platform serving the frontline of healthcare workers on the African continent. Strat-Tech has since grown out its footprint and has participated in more than a dozen deals across more than ten portfolio companies. The current investment portfolio includes EM Guidance, Flexclub, Yebo Fresh, Locstat and Locumbase amongst others.
Aadil holds a Masters in Finance (INSEAD) and is a CFA Charter holder. He serves several Strat-Tech portfolio companies in capacity as non-executive director/strategic advisor.
Akash Maharaj
Executive:
Standard Bank
Akash Maharaj
Akash is part of Standard Bank’s Equity Finance and Investment team focused on the Equity Investments business
Akash joined from Investec Bank where he headed up Investec's Emerging Companies business at Investec Bank Ltd focused on early stage investments in technology companies, as part of a wider team that focused on debt & mezzanine financing for non-listed businesses.
Previous to this, Akash was part of the Equity Structuring team at Investec.
Prior to joining Investec, Akash was head of Strategy and then a Corporate Financier at Citibank and an Equities Analyst & Trader at Deutsche Bank's Securities business after completing his articles at Deloitte.
Akash is a Certified Financial Analyst and a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Alison Collier
Managing Director:
Endeavor South Africa
Alison Collier
Alison Collier is the Managing Director of Endeavor South Africa since 2019, bringing close to 20yrs of experience in Strategy & Business Development roles in Africa, Europe & Asia. Alison has first-hand experience in establishing global offices for multi-nationals, expanding South African start-ups from into the global markets and raising capital to finance this growth. Alison has worked at McKinsey and held Global Director roles in Strategy and Procurement at SABMiller and Unilever respectively, based in the UK, Switzerland and Singapore
In 2015, Alison led the expansion of Cape Town based BOS ICE TEA (Endeavor Entrepreneur) to Europe, successfully setting up offices in Amsterdam and Paris. Prior to returning to SA in 2019, Alison was based in Singapore where she led Unilever’s Global Strategic Sourcing team including leading The Digital Transformation of Unilever’s Global Procurement incorporating a number of start-ups into Unilever’s global supply chain. Alison holds a B.Bus.Sci degree with Honours Finance from UCT (2000) and an MBA from INSEAD (2004).
Bruce Whitfield
Business Speaker, Journalist and Author
Bruce Whitfield
Bruce Whitfield is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author and sought-after speaker.
He has spent more than two decades analysing the fraught political economy of South Africa and draws critical lessons from the remarkable people who have built global businesses forged in one of the toughest environments on the planet. These lessons are applicable to any organisation anywhere in the world looking to thrive on the edge of the chaotic world we find ourselves in today.
He is a master story-teller who interprets the noise at the murky intersection where business, politics and society collide.
Bruce understands the power of grit, tenacity and the genius and conveys this message with passion and purpose to inspire and activate teams and organisations.
Dr Audrey Verhaeghe
CEO:
Anza Capital
Dr Audrey Verhaeghe
Dr Verhaeghe serves on various boards where innovation, tech start-up investment and entrepreneurship play an important role. She has co-founded the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS), The SA Innovation Summit (SAIS) and very recently ANZA Capital. She is an active angel investor. She spearheaded the commercialisation of the SA Innovation Summit as a Southern African Institution and main innovation event for the country. Her vision is to raise multiple rounds of funds to support 10 000 enterprises over the next 10 years across Africa.
SAIS and ANZA Capital developed an Investment Readiness Accelerator, a Match and Invest platform that matches Tech Start-ups with Investment, made various early- stage investments and is in process to raise their first early- stage fund for scalable technology entrepreneurs.
Chad Potter
Principal – Private Markets:
27four
Dr Audrey Verhaeghe
Chad has more than 17 years experience (9 in the UK) in transaction and advisory services and private equity. He has worked on a number of cross-border transactions across various sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure, oil and gas, mining, power and distribution, construction, technology, consumer business, real estate, financial services, healthcare and agri-business.
Chad has strong business diagnostic skills, including undertaking complex quantitative analysis of debt and operational financial models.
His primary responsibility is to lead the due diligence procedures for the private markets team and also serves on the advisory boards of investee entities.
Chad is a Director on both the Life Insurer and the Collective Investment Schemes Management Company. He is a Chartered Accountant.
Claudia Manning
Principal
SA SME Fund
Claudia Manning
Claudia Manning is a Principal at the SA SME Fund, a R1.4 billion fund established by the CEOs of the largest 40 corporates in South Africa to invest in growing small and medium businesses.
Claudia has over 25 years of experience in the investment and finance sector, initially as an investment transactor at a development finance institution, focusing on the infrastructure sector, later as a shareholder and executive of an investment holding company, amongst other roles.
She has extensive governance experience, having served on numerous Boards as a non-executive director, including financial institutions such as the DBSA and PIC, where she also served on the investment committees. She is currently a non-executive director of JSE listed Adcock Ingram, financial advisory company Rothschild & Co, and Chairs the board of social enterprise, Mondi Zimele.
Gladwyn Leeuw
Chief Investment Officer:
E2 Investments
Gladwyn Leeuw
Gladwyn has multi-dimensional expertise and experience in Investment, having served across various sectors in senior leadership and executive positions within large corporates, MNCs and SMEs; being a lecturer of entrepreneurship; an investor in both debt and equity; and a founder himself.
He is currently the Chief Investment Officer at E2 Investments, a South African Impact Investment Fund. Gladwyn started his career as an Investment Manager at Anglo American’s Enterprise and Supplier Development arm, Zimele. After which, he joined the Senior Executive team of one of South Africa’s largest international BPO’s, CCI South Africa. Later he served as a non-executive board member externally leading the commercialisation and expansion of their Impact Sourcing business CareerBox NPC. Prior to joining E2, Gladwyn was a General Partner at Kingson Capital, a South African-based Venture Capital investment Firm, where he lead their post-investment support.
Gladwyn has tried his hand as an entrepreneur, he founded a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platform; simultaneously establishing an independent business consultancy that built and consulted on fund & banking administration systems, gig work technology platforms, and various other skills development programmes in the ICT sector.
Finally, he holds a Master of Management degree in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration Management, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economic Studies and International Relations.
Natalie Kolbe
Managing Partner:
Norrsken22
Natalie Kolbe
Natalie is the Managing Partner of Norrsken22, responsible for the overall management of the Fund, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Natalie brings a wealth of private equity and growth investing experience to Norrsken22, having spent 18 years at Actis – one of the leading private equity firms focused on the Emerging Markets. At Actis, Natalie was Global Head of Private Equity, responsible for the day-to-day management of the global PE business, spanning 8 funds across Africa, Latin America, India, China and SE Asia, with circa USD $2.5 billion in assets under management. Natalie was also part of the team that assessed and onboarded the Abraaj Africa, Middle East and South East Asia PE funds and team ($2.5bn portfolio). She is an experienced board member having held board seats on multiple companies across Africa and Europe and has been instrumental in numerous restructurings and successful exits. Natalie instilled and operated under world-class governance and ESG standards at Actis and brings this depth of knowledge with her to Norrsken22.
Natalie holds a BComm from the University of Witwatersrand, an MBA (Cum Laude) from Wits Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.
Jacobus de Nysschen
CEO:
Creative Growth Capital
Jacobus de Nysschen
CA(SA), ICAEW, MBA
Our vision is to create a world where more SMEs succeed.
Jacobus has been building Creative CFO for the last 7 years to become a world-class professional platform that provides businesses with financial clarity, peace of mind and growth opportunities.
A key building block in this journey is Creative Growth Capital where our mission is to provide SMEs with access to capital that unlocks high growth opportunities and supports economic and social development.
I enjoy Rock climbing, Mountain biking, Poker and spending time with the family.
Justin James
Co-Founder and Investment Partner:
Fireball Capital
Tanya van Lill
Justin James CA(SA), co-founder, and investment partner at Fireball Capital. We seek to invest and support the South African and Africa venture capital ecosystems. We perform this function through a collaborative approach by investing and partnering with the very best venture capital managers and by investing directly in venture solutions that are seeking smart capital that can internationalize their business on the global stage. We are building a diversified risk adjusted portfolio of innovation and high growth for our clients.
Keet van Zyl
Co-Founder and Partner:
Knife Capital
Keet van Zyl
Keet is the Founding Partner of Knife Capital, a leading venture capital firm with offices in Cape Town and London. Keet is a venture capitalist with extensive growth equity investment experience. Knife Capital’s latest fund: KNF Ventures is a SARS S12J VC company that leverages knowledge, networks and funding to enhance investee growth and investor returns.
Prior to this, Keet structured various private equity funds in Southern Africa for a US fund-of-funds investor and worked at industry-leading companies such as Procter & Gamble, Investec Bank and ‘Here Be Dragons’ (HBD) Venture Capital.
Ketso Gordhan
CEO:
SA SME Fund
Ketso Gordhan
Studied for a BA at University of Durban Westville and a Masters in Development Economics at Sussex University in England. Was formerly married, 2 adult daughters.
Spent many years in the 1980s as an anti-Apartheid Activist, working for the United Democratic Fund, later for the ANC and this phase culminated with the role of campaign manager of the ANC election campaign in 1994
Served as Director General of the Department of Transport in the Mandela Government and later as City Manager of Johannesburg.
Joined Rand Merchant Bank in 2001 and managed its Private Equity Business for 8 years. Have over the past decade, worked as CEO of cement company PPC, as head of Africa for the Commonwealth Development Corporation and been involved as an impact investor.
Currently CEO of the SA SME Fund, which will apply its R1.4bn to help create and grow small businesses with a focus on Black, African Entrepeneurs
Llew Claasen
Managing Partner:
Newtown Partners
Llew Claasen
Llew Claasen is the Managing Partner of Newtown Partners, the family office of successful startup entrepreneurs, Llew Claasen and Vinny Lingham. It invests across a range of alternative and traditional asset classes, especially early-stage venture capital to back startups utilizing emerging technologies and disruptive business models. In 2019 they started working with global logistics group, Imperial (JSE:IPL) to enable their corporate venture capital program. Newtown Partners operate out of offices in San Diego, U.S. and Cape Town, South Africa.
Lynette Ntuli
CEO:
Innate Investment Solutions
Lynette Ntuli
Lynette Ntuli is the Founding Director and CEO of Innate Investment Solutions, a professional services firm in the built environment that provides property and infrastructure development services; and enterprise asset management solutions. Ntuli has held senior leadership roles in the commercial, development and investment spheres of the property management and trade and investment sectors, and sits on the boards and working groups of various real estate organisations.
Over a 14-year period, Ntuli has gathered diverse experiences in asset and infrastructure planning, management and development and her exposure to the built environment, and accompanied by her articulation of this insight into high impact social and economic solutions is an asset to work in providing holistic development solutions in Sub Saharan Africa. She holds post graduate property specific qualifications from the University of Pretoria and the University of Cape Town GSB.
Awards and accolades received include the Fun Fearless Female Award 2008 Cosmopolitan Magazine (Associated Magazines SA - December 2008); “Woman to Watch” Destiny Magazine (Ndalo Media – June 2009); “Under 30 and on Top Feature” O Magazine (The Oprah Magazine – April 2009), the Mail and Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans 2012 Award and she has been featured in the 2012 Power of 40 – Destiny Magazine (November 2012). She has also been named the Glamour magazine Woman of The Year 2014 winner in the business category. She also presents Business Day TV Show (BDTV, Channel 412), SME Funding, in a weekly time slot.
Lynette is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and Founding Curator of a South African hub. In 2018, she was named an Institut Choiseul.
100 Africa Laureate, in recognition of her leadership and work in advancing economic development in Africa, and become an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow (2018) in the flagship fellowship programme of the African Leadership Institute. In 2014, she had been selected as one of the Top 200 Leaders of Tomorrow by the St Gallen Symposium – the world’s premier symposium on leadership, politics and society. Lynette is a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow in the flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), a former Advisory Board member of First National Bank (FNB) in the Kwazulu Natal Region, a member of the African Leadership Network and a past Interim Chair of the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs in Southern Africa (SADC).
Lynette is actively involved at an executive and member level within various gender advocacy, youth lead and industry organisations in South Africa, including the Women's Property Network (WPN), South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA), South African Inst. of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP), the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC), International Women’s Forum (IWFSA) and Institute of Directors SA (IODSA). She currently serves as a non-executive director of several listed and unlisted entities including Liberty Two Degrees, a JSE listed REIT and the Durban International Convention Centre.
Melanie L de Nysschen
Programme Manager & Fund Manager Development:
SAVCA
Melanie L de Nysschen
Melanie joined SAVCA in March 2019. She is a financial services industry professional with a legal background and extensive experience in the investment banking industry, specifically corporate finance and capital markets.
Melanie is passionate about the sustainable development, and ultimately growth, of emerging fund managers, ultimately in support of an economy in which more small- and medium-sized businesses succeed.
A keen supporter of the Arts, Melanie also currently serves as an independent, non-executive director, on the board of Joburg Ballet (NPC).
Michael Jordaan
CEO:
Montegray
Michael Jordaan
Michael Jordaan, the former banker now heads up a private investment company, Montegray Capital and lends a strategic-hand to various businesses, including as Chairman of Wines of South Africa (WoSA), Chairman of consumer data buro, Compuscan and as Director on the JSE. Michael also actively invests as a partner in AngelHub Ventures, a South African based Venture Capital Fund.
In 2014 he co-founded a coding apprenticeship program, ProjectcodeX, to grow highly skilled software developers to fuel the digital economy.
Natalie Kolbe
Managing Partner:
Norrsken22
Natalie Kolbe
Natalie is the Managing Partner of Norrsken22, responsible for the overall management of the Fund, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Natalie brings a wealth of private equity and growth investing experience to Norrsken22, having spent 18 years at Actis – one of the leading private equity firms focused on the Emerging Markets. At Actis, Natalie was Global Head of Private Equity, responsible for the day-to-day management of the global PE business, spanning 8 funds across Africa, Latin America, India, China and SE Asia, with circa USD $2.5 billion in assets under management. Natalie was also part of the team that assessed and onboarded the Abraaj Africa, Middle East and South East Asia PE funds and team ($2.5bn portfolio). She is an experienced board member having held board seats on multiple companies across Africa and Europe and has been instrumental in numerous restructurings and successful exits. Natalie instilled and operated under world-class governance and ESG standards at Actis and brings this depth of knowledge with her to Norrsken22.
Natalie holds a BComm from the University of Witwatersrand, an MBA (Cum Laude) from Wits Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.
Rob Heath
Partner:
HAVAIC
Rob Heath
Rob is a partner of HAVAIC, a pan-African venture capital firm based in Cape Town. HAVAIC invests in early-stage, African-born tech companies across a variety of sectors.
Over a career spanning 20 years, Rob's inquisitive and determined nature has earned him experience across a variety of disciplines, sectors, and activities in academia, business, and sport. During that time, he has worked and lived in Africa, the USA, and the UK as an executive, business founder, CA, and advisor at blue-chips, NGOs, PE businesses, and startups.
At HAVAÍC, Rob's operational expertise, multi-sectoral knowledge and financial acumen benefit the company's 17-strong portfolio of companies that serve a combined 5 million customers in over 180 countries across the globe. He has a current focus on micropayments, consumer trend identification, communications, marketplaces, financial inclusion, and the technologies that surround those specialities.
Rob holds a B.Bus.Sci (Finance Honours) and an M.Com from UCT. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SA) with Deloitte in Cape Town.
Ryan Wood-Collier
Co-Founder and CEO:
Greenpoint Capital
Ryan Wood-Collier
Ryan is the co-founder and CEO of Greenpoint Capital, a Cape Town based manager of Private Credit funds.
Greenpoint was established in 2011 and has invested over R3.2bn in Private Credit investments in over 64 transactions, fully realizing 54 of those. Greenpoint invests across two Private Credit Strategies :- Direct Lending and Special Situations.
Prior to Greenpoint, Ryan spent 14 years in London in investment banking, Private Credit and financial restructuring. During this time he worked at Close Brothers, a British merchant bank, in the European Debt & Special Situations Group and Lincoln International, a US investment bank, where he assisted in establishing their Debt and Restructuring business in London. Ryan started his career at PwC in London focusing on Infrastructure M&A
Ryan is a CFA charterholder and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Natal
Sakhile Xulu
General Managing Partner:
Seed South Capital
Sakhile Xulu
Sakhile Xulu is the Managing Partner of Seed South Capital, a majority black-owned and managed firm that has become one of the leading-emerging voices in the early-stage intellectual property commercialisation domain in South Africa. Working with institutions across the intellectual property commercialisation value-chain, organisations like the Department of Science and Innovation(DSI), the Technology Innovation Agency(TIA), the National Intellectual Property Management Office(NIPMO), the World Intellectual Property Organisation(WIPO), and a few publicly financed research and development institutions in South Africa.
Seed South Capital is in the process of establishing The Sisungula Commercialisation Fund, a first of its kind in South Africa, the R350 million fund is positioned to be a market development, launch, growth, and expansion fund that will scale research and development from higher education institutions, science councils, public entities, and the private sector. The fund has received co-investment support from the Department of Science and Innovation(DSI), specifically the Sovereign Innovation Fund(SIF).
Samantha Pokroy
Founder and CEO:
Sanari Capital
Samantha Pokroy
Samantha is the Founder and CEO of Sanari Capital, a private equity firm focused on investments in
growth companies emanating from Africa (mainly from South Africa) with regional and global scalability
and exposure. They emphasize digital and human enablement to unlock business potential.
Samantha has eighteen years of private equity and venture capital experience in the South African and
United States markets. She played a leading role in investments at Ethos Private Equity, prior to which
she worked in private equity in Chicago and investment banking and consulting in New York.
Samantha holds an MBA (Hons) from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a BCom and BA Honours degree in Industrial Psychology from University of the Witwatersrand and is a CFA Charter
Holder. Samantha is a director on the board of the Southern African Private Equity and Venture Capital
Association (SAVCA).
Shafeeq Abrahams
Chief Executive Officer:
EPPF
Shafeeq Abrahams
was appointed as the Chief Executive and Principal Officer effective 1 April 2021. He began his career at Deloitte & Touché Chartered Accountants and later joined Eskom, where he held various leadership roles in Finance. Prior to joining the EPPF, he was the CFO of the National Home Builders Registration Council.
As the Chief Executive and Principal Officer, Mr. Abrahams serves on all the committees of the Board of Trustees within the EPPF.
Shainal Sukha
Managing Director:
Sukha and Associates (Pty) Ltd
Shainal Sukha
Shainal Sukha is founder of Sukha and Associates (“S&A”) - a boutique and independent asset consulting firm based in Cape Town, which consults to over R 67 billion of assets. S&A is the first black-owned asset consulting firm in South Africa to be a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing. S&A’s thought leadership in Responsible Investing has been acknowledged through the Batseta Imbasa Yegolide award for “Responsible Investment Consultant of the Year” as well as an award from ABSIP on their transformation initiatives in 2021.
With an Actuarial Science background and over 18 years of investment consulting experience, Shainal has developed a strong track record in delivering top quartile returns for his clients while generating a positive ESG impact. He is a promoter of “dual consulting”, a good governance initiative, which some SA retirement funds have implemented. Shainal regularly features at industry events for S&A’s use of alternative asset classes and their work in Responsible Investing and Impact Investing. He also serves on the Investment Committee of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and the NBI / WWF Just Transition Committee.
Shelley Lotz
Head of Regulatory Affairs:
SAVCA
Shelley Lotz
Shelley joined SAVCA in 2016 as the Head of Regulatory Affairs focusing on leading SAVCA's engagement and advocacy efforts with regulators including National Treasury, SARS, SARB and the FSCA.
Shelley's extensive experience in the financial services sector includes 6 years at Horizon Equity Partners, where she was responsible for all fund reporting, valuations and compliance.
Shelley also spent 7 years at the Royal Bank of Scotland in London where she worked in a technical accounting and regulatory advisory role for the Investment Bank. Shelley was the Finance lead in the launch of RBS's GBP 1.1bn Private Equity fund in 2007, which paved the way for Shelley's career in private equity.
Sybil Kekana
Co-Founder and Managing Partner:
Midzi Growth Fund
Sybil Kekana
Sybil is the co-founder and managing partner of Midzi Growth Fund. As our name Midzi means ‘roots’ in TshiVenda, we seek to invest in women-led businesses operating in the Agro-Processing and Technology Sectors. (Agrotech, Fintech and Data Science)
Sybil is an accomplished financier with a passion for entrepreneurship. She has more than twenty years of experience in the financial services and governance arena covering investment, internal auditing, business development, risk management and treasury as well as fund management.
Sybil is an advisory board member of the African Institute for Entrepreneurship. She is an advocate of the (United Nations Sustainable Development Goal – number 8; Decent work and Economic Growth) which promotes inclusive and sustainable economic growth as well as supporting employment creation and decent work for all.
Sybil holds a MBA from Henley University in the UK, post graduate diploma in Investment Management from University of Johannesburg and a B.Com (Hons) from the University of Pretoria.
Thiru Pather
Principal:
SA SME Fund
Thiru Pather
Thiru is a Principal at the SA SME Fund, a fund set up with the broad objective of creating and growing black entrepreneurs. She is a Chartered Accountant by profession and has over 16 years of Venture Capital, Private Equity and Corporate Finance experience. Prior to joining the SA SME Fund, Thiru was a Fund Principal at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) where she was Head of the Fund of Funds division. Thiru is responsible for the SA SME Fund’s involvement in the SAVCA Fund Manager Development Programme as well as the Venture Capital Fund Manager Programme.
Thiru is a member of the SAVCA Board and is an independent IC member of the 27four Black Business Growth Fund II.
Vuyo Mafata
Commissioner:
Compensation Fund
Vuyo Mafata
Vuyo Mafata is the Commissioner of the Compensation Fund, a public entity of the Department of Labour in the Republic of South Africa. The Compensation Fund is a healthcare funder in the area of occupational injuries and diseases and provides social security safety net in the event of an injury in the workplace.
He was appointed to this role in June 2015, on an assignment which was meant to be for a short period and confirmed to stay on permanently in April 2016. Prior to his assignment at the Compensation Fund he was the Chief Financial Officer of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, another entity of the Department of Labour, where he had been for 10 years in various roles.
Together with his management team, Vuyo Mafata has embarked on a process to improve the fortunes of the Compensation Fund and to ensure that it lives up to the important role that it has been established to do in the South African labour market. In the short space of time, there are already signs that Vuyo and his team are achieving the desired results, though the complete turnaround will be realised over a longer period of time.
Dr. Zuko Kubukeli
CEO and Managing Partner:
PAPE Fund Managers
Dr. Zuko Kubukeli
Zuko began working as a property manager for Atlas Properties Limited. Zuko then joined
the private equity and fund management business at Brait. Thereafter, he joined Pan African
Capital Holdings (PACH) as a director and principal responsible for strategy and investments
with a NAV in excess of ZAR520m at an IRR of 38% and he then co-established the Evolution
One Fund which generated an IRR of >34%. He successfully raised capital and invested in 3
other private equity funds with an IRR of 41% and 2.7TMB. Zuko also serves as a board
member and chairman on numerous portfolio companies and has served on the boards of
four JSE-listed companies.