Investors update: Naspers shuts down Foundry

Naspers shuts down its Foundry, South Africa’s largest VC fund

Highlights

• Naspers, Africa’s most valuable company by market capitalization, has shut down its $100 million venture capital fund Naspers Foundry as part of general efforts to scale down its operations.
• Post the sunsetting of the fund, the Foundry will continue to maintain the investments it has made which include startups like Naked Insurance, SweepSouth, and most recently, Planet42’s $100 million mega-round.
• However, Naspers plans to continue supporting the development of SA’s early-stage tech sector. Since its launch in 2019, Naspers Foundry has funded over nine startups to the tune of around $40 million.

Source: BusinessDay

Our Takeaway

Before the shutdown, Naspers Foundry was one of the most notable corporate venture capital (CVC) units in Africa with one of the biggest indigenous investment funds. Thus, the closure is definitely a setback for the South African tech startup ecosystem, especially for early-stage startups that struggle to access funding. However, the development is largely related to the firm’s strategy and not necessarily indicative of broader trends in the African VC market. Several investors and venture capital firms remain actively investing in African startups. 

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American education-focused SaaS provider enters Africa

Highlights

• PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, has announced its first channel partner in Africa, OneConnect. 
• OneConnect, which provides turnkey technology services and solutions in South Africa and throughout Africa, plans to help grow PowerSchool’s customer base in the country and across the region. 
• The partnership is expected to help the company serve more than 500,000 students across the continent in the next year.

Source: Ventureburn

Our Takeaway

As the traditional schooling experience in most African countries remains largely unchanged for years, education technology startups—local and foreign—have emerged in recent years aiming to capture a market opportunity that lies in upgrading learning models that improve the teaching experience for both learners and teachers. This development bodes well for the continent, where the average literacy rate is estimated at 70%, and access to quality teaching and learning infrastructure lag behind other parts of the world.

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Roam launches East Africa’s largest electric motorcycle plant

Highlights

• Swedish-Kenyan Electric Vehicle (EV) maker Roam has unveiled a new production facility that is more than 10,000 square meters in size.
• This new facility will allow for expanded production and have an annual capacity of 50,000 motorcycles while staying a carbon-neutral assembly, which are the goals in the coming years.
• The investment in a new facility is part of the company’s effort to scale up commercial mass production of the Roam Air as well as improve efficiency.

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

The launch of Roam’s new plant in Kenya has the potential to bring significant, multi-fold benefits to the country, in terms of creating much-needed jobs, helping to reduce unemployment rates, and boosting the local economy. Additionally, electric motorcycles will contribute to a cleaner environment by promoting the use of electric vehicles in the country. Overall, the launch of a large electric motorcycle manufacturing plant in Kenya has the potential to bring numerous benefits to both the local community and the environment.