Mamor Capital Ventures, a black women-owned and managed venture capital firm, has reached a R300m ($18.8m) first close for its inaugural fund, enabling it to begin investing in post-revenue South African technology businesses while continuing to raise capital towards a R550m ($34m) target.
The milestone, announced on Tuesday, follows more than three years of fundraising and marks a shift from capital accumulation to deployment for the Johannesburg-based firm. The Public Investment Corporation, South Africa’s largest asset manager, is the fund’s anchor investor, with additional commitments from the SA SME Fund’s High Impact Seed Fund of Funds, the Technology Innovation Agency, and the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency.
Mamor Capital said the PIC played a “catalytic role” in mobilising additional institutional commitments to the fund, which will focus on scalable South African businesses that use technology to widen access to digital and financial services and increase economic participation.
“After more than three years of fundraising, reaching this first close is an important step for Mamor Capital and a strong endorsement from the institutions that have backed our strategy,” said Mamokete Ramathe, founder and chief executive. “It gives us the capital to start investing in South African businesses that are using technology to widen economic participation, while remaining focused on delivering competitive returns for our investors.”
The fund’s investment mandate targets businesses addressing financial access, digital infrastructure and other barriers to economic participation, with an emphasis on companies that have moved beyond proof of concept and can demonstrate commercial demand.
“We are looking for businesses that have moved beyond proving an idea and can show real commercial demand,” said Fuzlin Levy-Hassen, co-founder and chief financial officer. “Our investment decisions will be grounded in the strength of the business, the quality of the management team and whether our capital and experience can help the company build sustainable scale.”
The first close represents a notable development for South Africa’s venture capital ecosystem, which has struggled to attract institutional capital at scale despite growing interest in the country’s technology sector. The PIC’s involvement signals a broader push by public investment bodies to support the development of local fund managers while gaining exposure to technology-driven growth.
“Mamor Capital brings together an experienced investment team, a clear strategy, and a strong transformation proposition,” said Leon Smit, acting chief investment officer at the PIC. “We see significant potential in South Africa’s venture capital market and believe institutional investors can play a greater role in providing the long-term capital needed to support its development.”
Ketso Gordhan, chief executive of the SA SME Fund, said the investment through its High Impact Seed Fund of Funds reflected the need to increase specialist capital available to promising South African technology businesses.
“Our investment through the High Impact Seed Fund of Funds is intended to strengthen the pool of local fund managers with the capability to identify and support promising technology businesses,” Gordhan said. “Mamor Capital adds experienced investment capacity to the market and has a clear focus on businesses that can broaden participation in the digital economy while building sustainable commercial value.”
The Mamor Capital leadership team brings experience across investment banking, venture capital, telecommunications, technology and entrepreneurship. Alongside its commercial mandate, the fund said it aims to contribute to a more representative investment ecosystem by applying a gender lens and increasing access to growth capital for underrepresented founders.
The firm did not disclose specific investment targets or sectors within the technology space, but indicated that portfolio companies would be selected based on their potential to deliver measurable economic impact alongside sustainable financial returns.
The fund will continue raising capital towards its R550m target, with deployment expected to begin immediately following the first close.