"Entrepreneurs and small businesses have a crucial role to play in helping South Africa to meet its economic growth and sustainable development goals. The small business sector is not only in the best position to grow employment, it's also well placed to harness the creativity needed to keep South African business relevant in a competitive and challenging global environment. It is precisely this entrepreneurial approach that we strive to partner with at Investec and that's why we are proud to continue our association with SAVCA through the SAVCA Industry Awards."
– Fani Titi, Investec joint CEO
Sponsored by
Incollaboration with research partner
The SAVCA Awards!
The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association is excited to announce the second year running SAVCA Industry Awards 2019, in collaboration with Investec supported by Sanlam Investments. These awards will recognise portfolio companies that have thrived from private equity and venture capital investment in the region as well as the value these asset classes provide: mentorship, market access, business development, guidance around corporate governance and so much more. All portfolio companies (headquartered in Southern Africa) currently benefiting from these types of investments are eligible for consideration by our panel of renowned business leaders and captains of industry.
Congratulations to this year's Winners!
Aerobotics
DSES Project Solutions
Real Foods Group
Meridian Consolidated Investments
Media
The Awards Process
Eager to nominate a portfolio company?
Here’s everything you need to know:
The Awards Shortlist
The official shortlist for the 2019 SAVCA Industry Awards finalists are:
GoMetro
Aerobotics
Ozow
Netcampus
DSES Project Solutions
Mediwell
Auto X
Real Foods Group
Dartcom
Meridian Consolidated Investments
"Now in its second year, the SAVCA Industry Awards recognise excellence, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. These are qualities Investec strongly values, so are proud to be associated with the Awards evening, as lead sponsor. We look forward to acknowledging the people and businesses that are driving growth in South Africa and the rest of the continent."
– Andrew Chananie, Investec Corporate and Institutional Banking
The Awards Categories
These firms would generally meet at least two of the following criteria.
The judges reserve the right to re-categorise nominees to ensure classification consistency.
VENTURE CAPITAL
Less than 5 years old
Enterprise Value not relevant
Post-revenue
Funding stage:
Early Stage / Series A
or Series B funding
(excludes seed / pre-revenue)
(Small OR Medium)
Enterprise Value of under R200m
Revenue of under R200m
Funding stage not relevant
Established with positive operating cash flows
COMPANIES
Enterprise Value over R200m and under R1.5bn
Revenue of over R200m and under R1.5bn
Funding stage not relevant
Established with positive operating cash flows
COMPANIES
Enterprise Value over R1.5bn
Revenue of over R1.5bn
Funding stage not relevant
Established with positive operating cash flows
The Judging Process
Finalists and winners will be selected based on:
Review of
nominations
Shortlist of finalists
selected across the four
main categories
Finalists will be
interviewed and their
operations assessed
Findings will be
presented to the
judging panel
Winners will be selected,
by our judging panel
and announced at
the gala event
The Judging Criteria
Nominees must be current portfolio companies or the private equity/venture capital company must have exited in the past 12 months leading up to the 7th August 2019. Only the performance of companies during the last 24 months will be considered during the judging process.
Finalists and winners will be selected based on:
Other differentiating factors will include whether:
The Judges
(Adjudication Facilitator)
Co-CEO
Helical Capital Partners
Andre Roux, Deputy Chairman: ETHOS
Craig is a founding shareholder and co-CEO of Helical Capital Partners with stakeholder involvement of Convergence Partners and Partners Group. Helical Capital Partners is focused on providing international private market access to local institutions and developing impact funds for foreign investment.
Previously Craig, as Chief Operating Officer of Convergence Partners, was responsible for all operational aspects with a particular focus on ESG, treasury and risk issues both within Convergence Partners, the Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund and their investee companies. Prior to joining Convergence Partners, Craig spent two years as the Chief Operating Officer of Phatisa Group (a niche Private Equity manager on the African continent) and was responsible for all PE administration including financial and investor reporting and, was instrumental in the establishment and raising capital for the Pan-African Housing Fund.
Deputy Chairman
ETHOS
Andre Roux, Deputy Chairman: ETHOS
Andre is the Founding Partner of Ethos Private Equity, having established the business in 1984.
He is widely regarded as the pioneer of South African private equity and held the post of Chief Executive since Ethos’ inception. He has lectured extensively on the private equity industry to business schools and is a regular speaker at industry conferences.
Andre stepped down as Chief Executive in 2014 and assumed the role of Deputy Chairman of the Board of Director.
Prior to the establishment of Ethos, Andre held the positions of Chief Executive of FirstCorp Capital Investors Limited and FirstCorp Merchant Bank. He has served on the boards of several portfolio companies associated with the various investment funds advised by Ethos. Until recently, Andre was a member of the Alexander Forbes Board of Directors prior to the business listing on the JSE (July 2014).
Andre graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Most recently, EMPEA (Emerging Markets Private Equity Association) appointed Andre as Senior Advisor and Chair of the EMPEA Africa Council.
Chief Operating Officer
RMI Investment Managers
André Rousseau, Chief Operating Officer: RMI Investment Managers
B.Com. (Hons); M.Com.
Andre joined RMI Investment Managers in September 2015 as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he was the Insurance and Investment Management Industry Leader for Deloitte Africa.
Andre has spent most of his career in the asset management industry holding senior operational positions in large asset managers, such as RMB Asset Management and Momentum Asset Management.
Regional Director Southern Africa
DEG
Anne Keppler, Regional Director Southern Africa: DEG
Anne Keppler oversees DEG’s investment activities and portfolio in Southern Africa as Regional Director. She is based in Johannesburg and together with the team is responsible for the assessment, structuring and management of funding for corporates, funds, financial institutions as well as project finance structures in Southern Africa.
She has been working as Vice President for DEGs Private Equity team previously as well as for DEGs Financial Institutions team in structuring debt and equity transactions. Before joining DEG in 2005, Anne worked as credit analyst for financial institutions at WestLB in Germany.
Growth Capital Solutions
RMB
Catherine Townshend, Growth Capital Solutions: RMB
Catherine has widespread experience in the high growth venture ecosystem across all aspects of the growth cycle. Specifically, as companies refine their business models, professionalize and evolve as market leaders. Catherine is passionate about scaling businesses through access to capital, talent and networks and feeds off the passion, energy and dedication of entrepreneurs.
Catherine has recently joined the newly formed Growth Capital Solutions team at RMB to provide advisory, structuring, and funding solutions to high-growth companies to leapfrog these companies to a point where they could become substantial enterprises and market leaders within their sectors.
Prior to joining RMB, Catherine lead the South African chapter of Endeavor South Africa for 7 years, working closely with South Africa’s best founders and the broader entrepreneurial community to establish private sector partnerships, the Harvest Venture Fund and key industry awards which recognise a new generation of South African scale-ups.
Outside of work, Catherine is a proverbial “slayer of dragons and monsters” to two boys, has represented South Africa at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, and holds a BSc and Postgraduate Diploma in Enterprise Development from Rhodes University. In 2013, she became the first South African to graduate a Kauffman Fellow (class 18) and has completed leadership programmes at GE Ventures, Stanford and Harvard Universities.
Director
Tactus Advisory
Dr. David Makovah, Director: Tactus Advisory
Dr David Makovah is founder and CEO of the digital business platform Mr Mak Learning, anda director of Tactus Advisory, a boutique corporate finance firm. He conducts professional training interventions in capital markets, credit, finance, economics, and related areas. The portfolio of clients includes leading South African Business Schools (Graduate School of Business (UCT), Gordon Institute of Business Science (UP) and Wits Business School) and corporates (Liberty, Investec, Standard Bank, Eskom, ECIC, Transnet). He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Rhodes University) and Honours in Accounting Science (UNISA). He is a registered Chartered Accountant and holds a PhD in Project and Infrastructure Finance.
David has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. This covers companies ranging from small and medium size enterprises to listed blue chip corporates. He began his career by serving articles at KPMG in Parktown Johannesburg. Subsequent to this he joined Nedbank’s Group Risk division focusing on the commercial and corporate sections of the bank including structured finance and public financing.
He has won multiple awards including Executive Education Lecturer of the year 2012/2014/2015 at the Wits Business School, MBA Lecturer of the Year (Part Time) 2015 at GIBS. David is highly regarded in the banking and financial services sector in South Africa and beyond, having conducted engagements in countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Dubai, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Egypt, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and India.
David holds a PhD in Project and Infrastructure Finance that focused on holistic measures for the more effective execution of infrastructure and project finance initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa.He is a passionate proponent of Africa’s potential through people, an avid reader and traveller, and a novice and very limited golfer.
CEO
SA SME Fund
Ketso Gordhan, CEO: SA SME Fund
Ketso has operated for many years in the private equity and impact investing space. His positions and roles have included Head of Private Equity at FirstRand for almost a decade; managing a personal impact investment portfolio with a focus on education in SA and Rwanda; serving as Africa advisor to the Omidyar Network; and Head of Africa for the Commonwealth Development Corporation where he led the Africa investment strategy for the UK government’s development finance arm.
In addition to this expertise, Ketso was the first post-apartheid Director General in the Ministry of Transport; the City Manager for the City of Johannesburg during 1999-2000; and an advisor to the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency in 2009-2010. In the latter role, he sought to develop and institute performance outcome metrics and targets for all government ministries.
Ketso has served on numerous private sector, foundation and non-profit boards of directors. He was an advisor to the World Bank Urban Sector on Municipal Restructuring, is an Aspen Global Leadership Fellow (a member of the Aspen Institute’s African Leadership Initiative), and in 2000, was elected a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader for Tomorrow.
Ketso also has a long and illustrious history as an anti-apartheid activist and leader, in both the United Democratic Front and in the ANC.
Founding Director & CEO
Innate Investment Solutions
Lynette Ntuli, Founding Director & CEO: Innate Investment Solutions
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 15 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.
Her experience extends to the use of the organisational capacity of the private and public sector to facilitate developments within the priority sectors of the economy with a focus on Infrastructure Development and Planning, understanding Government Planning and Development policy, asset management frameworks and audit and compliance processes. Lynette has been well profiled for her executive positions, amongst them becoming the first woman in South Africa to become GM of a super-regional shopping centre (The Pavilion) and CEO of the Durban Business Enhancement Initiative.
Passionate about youth development and leadership, Lynette is a Founding Director and Chairman of IgniteSA.com, a youth oriented digital media and programme platform which curates content in Education, Skills and Entrepreneurial Development in South Africa.
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 a 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.
Head of Investment Banking and Principal Investments
Investec
Nick Riley, Head of Investment Banking and Principal Investments: Investec
Nick heads up the combined Investment Banking and Principal Investment business of Investec Specialist Bank, a role he has held since 1 December 2018.
Nick was previously CEO of the Investec Property Fund, a position he assumed in 2015, after having joined the Fund in 2014 as part of the executive management team. During his time as CEO, the underlying asset base of the Fund grew from R7bn to R21bn, while the Fund also expanded its investment into Europe and the UK. Nick was also responsible for the Global Investec Property Fund business which included the inwardly listed Investec Australia Property Fund.
Prior to his involvement with the Investec Property Fund, Nick spent nine years at Investec Corporate Finance, where he was a senior investment banker responsible for a number of Investec's key client relationships, including all clients within the real estate sector. Nick is a qualified CA (SA), CFA, while he has also completed the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard.
Contact Us
Manusha Parshotum
manusha@savca.co.za
+27 11 268 0041
About The Sponsors
Investec
As a Private Equity Fund you can gain access to a range of experts covering lending services which range from corporate borrowing and capital markets advisory, to innovative finance strategies including Equity Structuring and Fund Finance. Regardless of your requirements, our products and services are designed to help grow your business.
Acquisition Finance
offers structuring solutions to part finance the acquisition of underlying investments and provide bespoke debt financing solutions to private equity funds operating in SA or elsewhere in Africa
Fund Finance
originates, structures and provides capital solutions to the private capital funds market from key geographies where we have expertise
Treasury Sales and Structuring
provides fully integrated risk management and treasury solutions across FX, Money Markets, Interest Rates and Commodities
Equity Capital Markets
specialise in underwriting and advising companies seeking to raise capital for listed companies as well any subsequent delistings and sell downs by the company and its shareholders
Corporate Finance
specialises in a wide array of transactions (including sell-side, buy-side and BBBEE) with an extensive client network locally and globally through advisory teams that allow for the origination of value adding transactions for their clients
For further information
Sanlam Investments
The Sanlam Investments Group is one of the largest investment firms in Southern Africa. It is the investment cluster of the Sanlam Group, and includes Sanlam Specialised Finance, Sanlam UK, Sanlam Private Wealth and Sanlam Investments. Within the group, Sanlam Investments specialises in asset management for both retail and institutional clients. We offer a wide range of investment capabilities across active management, index tracking, multi management, international investments and alternative investments. As authorities on portfolio construction, we blend individual investment strategies from these capabilities into well-diversified solutions for our clients. Our objective is to preserve and grow our clients’ wealth while making a meaningful contribution to transformation and the South African economy.
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