Three new members were welcomed to the board of The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) at its 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 05 October. Andrea Böhmert, Lebo Thubisi and Richard Rose have now officially commenced their tenure as board members.  

Providing his insight on these new appointments, SAVCA Chairperson and Executive Director of Ata Capital, Lelo Rantloane commented: “Our three new board members were voted in by our members for their unique individual and collective skillsets and expertise. Together they will provide strategic insight to the SAVCA team in furthering its vision for the year ahead as a key role-player in driving the growth of the industry across Southern Africa. We wish to extend a warm welcome and look forward to collaborating with them as we work to expand the reach and impact of the private equity and venture capital industry.”

Andrea Böhmert entered the Venture Capital industry in 2007, single-handedly raising a R350m Venture Capital Fund. She joined Knife Capital as Partner in 2011 and has played an instrumental role in redefining and molding the Venture Capital industry’s ecosystems. Her experience in the industry spans 15 years, during which time she has worked in various capacities within angel investing, business incubation and entrepreneur acceleration. Andrea is often called upon to represent South Africa’s Venture Capital sector and offers her insights as part of prominent local and international panels.

Lebo Thubisi has 15 years of financial services experience. In his role as Head Manager of Research at Alexforbes Investments leads a team of six dynamic researchers across traditional and alternative asset classes and drives the investment research efforts of the business. He’s part of the leadership team that established and manages the Alexforbes Investments private markets programme on behalf of clients, which has now grown to over R10bn in AUM. Lebo’s private markets role is at the core, assisting qualifying private market strategies to access capital and assisting clients with alternative investment options.

Richard Rose has 16 years of experience across Private Equity and Venture Capital, having provided leveraged finance to Private Equity-sponsored transactions in the UK mid-market with the RBS for 6 years. He then moved into the Venture Capital space and spent 10 years raising, deploying and managing Venture Capital/SME Impact Funds with Edge Growth. Richard is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Edge Growth Ventures (Pty) Ltd and is passionate about technology as an enabler of team efficiencies and the creation and growth of new, innovative business models.

Also on this year’s AGM agenda was the announcement of its outgoing board members, Keet van Zyl, Cathy Goddard and Samantha Pokroy, to whom a heartfelt thanks was extended for their exemplary service and ongoing commitment.

Rantloane says: “Keet, Cathy and Samantha brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to the SAVCA board, inspiring a high level of commitment to the Association and supporting the executive team to lay the important groundwork that will enable us to fulfil our shared vision for the industry. The impact of their contributions is highly appreciated and has become a key part of our development as the industry’s association and has enabled us to position both venture capital and private equity as key opportunities for investors.

“We’d also like to formally welcome in the new directors to our board, and we look forward to their fresh perspectives and the skills that they bring to SAVCA, as we continue to grow the industry.”

ENDS