Investment Focus
Scalable solutions for real-world problems.
Our investment focus:
High growth, strong return business models
Creating high impact at scale
Stand-out, mission-driven, black / female-led or diverse founder teams - helping to correct the existing funding bias
We also invest in:
Transformative business models in key industries, driven by teams that don’t (yet) include under-represented founders
Stand-out black and female entrepreneurs with highly scalable business models that aren’t necessarily “transformative” – but do create inspiring success examples
We don't invest in:
“Social only” enterprises: impact, but insufficiently strong growth / return prospects
“Profit only” business models: non-diverse teams with strong growth business models without high impact
Entrepreneurs
Stand-out entrepreneurs: we handpick entrepreneurs driven to achieve significant business success and impact at scale
As experienced entrepreneurs we know how essential the entrepreneurial team is.
Stand-out entrepreneurs for E4E are:
- Mission-driven
- A little bit crazy : think differently and are willing to change the paradigm
- Focused on the business – energetic, driven, grit
- Business savvy - can make money
- ‘Can do’ – action-oriented, agile, experimental
- Eager for personal growth - open to advice and learning every day
- Experience & maturity: know what it takes to create success at scale
- Balance in team (personalities and expertise)
- Personal connection E4E with Founders
Stand-out entrepreneurs come from all backgrounds and sexes, and we are open to investing in all. To address the existing funding disparity, we actively seek to support black and female entrepreneurs.
Impact and returns
Scalable models - solving real-world problems: we will invest in 12-18 inspiring entrepreneurial teams and highly scalable business models that have high societal impact.
Industry sectors:
- Food
- Health & Safety
- Education
- FinTech
- Sustainable Energy & Water
- Mobility & Digital Access
Investment themes include:
- Empowered people: digital transformation & financial inclusion
- Smart cities: sustainable & liveable
- Smart value chains: sustainable & efficient
Growth business, strong returns:
- At least 4x money / 30%+ IRR per investment case *
- Potential to be SA industry leader and / or significant international potential
High-impact, at scale:
- Measurable impact on SDG’s
- Business models transforming key industries
- Inspiring examples of 'diverse’ entrepreneurial success