Investing in tech-enabled early-stage businesses can be rewarding both financially and from a social impact point of view.
Sectors like finance, education, and health, provide a myriad of opportunities for investors looking for returns from businesses that contribute to the betterment of South Africa.
The Mineworkers Investment Company places a high premium on investing in businesses that are making a difference. Through MIC Khulisani Ventures (“Khulisani”), its early-stage investment vehicle, MIC committed R150 million in innovative, highly disruptive black-owned South African businesses across diverse high growth sectors including edtech, healthtech and fintech. Another R150m has been recently approved for further expansion of the initiative.
“We have not only invested significant capital into our Khulisani investees but have also shared our time, expertise and access to our networks to drive their growth and sustainability. The return on these investments will come in financial form, of course, but also in terms of the positive social impact on the lives of South Africans as the investees continue to address so many of the challenges our country faces,” says Cynthia Pongweni MIC CFO.
The businesses that Khulisani has invested in have leveraged technology to drive positive change. In the edtech space, the Khulisani has invested in Limulab, an online platform that facilitates the learning of indigenous languages for children through animation and gamification. In the healthtech sector, Khulisani has backed Quro Medical, which provides a digitally driven Hospital at Home solution, allowing medical professionals to treat patients remotely. From a fintech perspective, Livestock Wealth enables crowd funding for farming assets such as cows and macadamia nut trees, an offering that has been dubbed Crowd farming. Rentoza uses a subscription-based platform for products to increase access to these goods for consumers who normally are not able to afford it.
Beyond Khulisani, but still within MIC’s impact investment portfolio, is TooMuchWifi, an ISP that provides affordable internet access to previously disadvantaged communities. It enables access the digital economy for those members of the population currently excluded as a result of affordability constraints.
MIC is celebrating these investments with a podcast series entitled “The Entrepreneur’s Journey”. with MIC in partnership with 702 and 947.
In the series renowned South African journalist Bongani Bingwa interviews MIC investees about their journey toward building disruptive and successful ventures and the impact that these businesses are having.
The podcast will be available on popular podcast platforms from July 25th.
“We are excited about our investee companies telling their stories, which will serve as inspiration to other aspiring entrepreneurs. These are stories about celebrating the passion and determination of black entrepreneurs. They are not only about innovation but also about how companies are using their products and services to drive useful change in society. The podcast is really a deeply insightful view into how businesses in South Africa can balance the demands of financial success with the desire to have a sustainable impact on society,” says Pongweni.
