Former Vodacom executive Mamokete Ramathe’s Mamor Capital Ventures has reached a R300-million first close on its first fund and can now start investing, while it continues raising towards a R550-million target. The Public Investment Corporation is the anchor investor and the fund backs post-revenue South African technology businesses working on digital and financial inclusion.
The first close came after more than three years of fundraising.
Interesting insights on Mamor Capital
Look at who put the money in. Alongside the PIC, the commitments come from the High Impact Seed Fund of Funds managed by the SA SME Fund, the Technology Innovation Agency and the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency. The PIC also helped bring other institutions to the table. That is a fund built almost entirely on state and state-adjacent capital, even as private deal activity picks up elsewhere. The team is not new to this.
Founder and CEO Mamokete Ramathe spent more than 20 years in investment banking, was Executive Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Vodacom Group, co-founded infrastructure business Vulatel, and sits as a non-executive director on two JSE-listed companies.
Co-founder and CFO Fuzlin Levy-Hassen says the fund wants businesses that have moved past proving an idea and can show real commercial demand.
What others are saying about Mamor Capital
TechFinancials reported the close and quoted PIC Acting Chief Investment Officer Leon Smit saying institutional investors can play a greater role in providing long-term capital to the local venture market. Bizcommunity reported SA SME Fund CEO Ketso Gordhan's point that the investment is meant to strengthen the pool of local fund managers able to back technology businesses. Mamor Capital describes itself as a gender-smart early-stage growth fund focused on connectivity and financial inclusion.
Three years to raise R300 million
Something to note here is the mandate is post-revenue only, so if you have paying customers and you are working on financial access or digital infrastructure, it is worth a conversation now, because a first close is when a fund is hungriest.
You might also like our piece on Anvaya's seed funding from 3CV, the Wamly Series A and what local investors will back, and why developer career frameworks matter when talent has global options.
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