Sanlam Multi-Manager entered with its first venture capital investment, and E Squared, founded by Allan Gray in 2007, also joined HAVAIC Fund 3, signalling that institutional South African capital is stepping into early-stage tech in a way it hasn’t before. 

This is not opportunistic angel money. It is long-term, institutionally managed South African capital moving into an asset class it has historically viewed as high risk.

HAVAIC had previous exits: RapidDeploy, previously backed by HAVAIC, built cloud-based emergency response software before its acquisition by Motorola Solutions.

The Cape Town-based HAVAIC Fund 3 launched in March 2023 with a $50 million (R800M) target and has now secured $30 million, with plans to reach a final close by August 2026. Ten million dollars has been deployed across eight post-revenue startups.

The portfolio tells a clear story about where HAVAIC sees opportunity. 

SAPay is digitising minibus taxi fares across one of South Africa's largest informal transport networks, a market that moves billions of rands annually but remains almost entirely cash-based. 

Entersekt provides fraud prevention software to banks globally, already operating at an international scale. SwiftVEE has built a digital livestock marketplace, bringing price transparency to a sector where deals are still done on handshakes. 

NjiaPay is building payment rails across multiple African markets, while Sportable and Talk360 round out a portfolio that leans heavily toward infrastructure and financial plumbing rather than consumer-facing apps.

There is a consistent thread here. HAVAIC Fund 3 is backing infrastructure, marketplaces and financial rails rather than consumer-facing apps. These are businesses grounded in local problems but structured to scale beyond South Africa.

Ten million dollars spread across eight companies works out to roughly $1.25 million (R20M) each. For post-revenue startups with global ambitions, that is not deep capital. In the US or Europe, single venture rounds often exceed HAVAIC Fund 3’s entire $50 million target.

“Post-revenue” is also a broad category, especially in a market where African VC slowed sharply in 2023 and 2024. Are these businesses on the brink of sustainability, or would they need follow-on funding? Does this third close show that funding conditions are improving, or is HAVAIC’s past success helping it secure commitments while the wider market stays tight?

Whether HAVAIC Fund 3 becomes a tipping point for South African venture capital will depend less on hitting $50 million and more on what happens next: larger follow-on rounds, real exits and crucially, whether other institutional investors follow Sanlam’s lead.

Watch this space.

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