Mamor Capital Ventures, a black women-owned venture capital firm, has raised R300 million ($18.8 million) in the first closure of its debut technology fund, providing the Johannesburg-based investor with new resources to support developing South African technology companies.
The first close brings Mamor Capital more than halfway to its R550 million fundraising goal, allowing the business to commence capital deployment after more than three years of fundraising.
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), South Africa’s state-owned asset manager, is the fund’s anchor investor. Other institutional backers include the South African SME Fund’s High Impact Seed Fund of Funds, the Technology Innovation Agency, and the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency.
Mamor Capital intends to invest predominantly in post-revenue South African technology enterprises that have proved commercial demand and are poised for growth.
Its investment approach will prioritize enterprises that use technology to increase access to financial and digital services, improve infrastructure, and remove other impediments to greater economic participation.
The business stated that investment decisions will be based on each company’s underlying strength, the quality of its leadership team, and the extent to which Mamor Capital’s resources and experience can support long-term growth.
Founder and CEO Mamokete Ramathe highlighted the first close as a significant milestone that marks the firm’s transition from an extensive fundraising period to active investment.
The fund also aims to promote greater representation in South Africa’s investment environment. Mamor Capital, which is owned and managed by black women, intends to take a gender-focused investing approach while expanding access to growth capital for founders and entrepreneurs who have historically been underrepresented by traditional funding channels.
Mamor Capital’s executive team consists of experts with expertise in venture capital, investment banking, telecommunications, technology, and entrepreneurship.
The fund also allows institutional investors to invest in South Africa’s growing venture capital market. The PIC has emphasized the possibility for institutional capital to play a larger role in providing long-term finance to local entrepreneurial firms and technology companies.
The SA SME Fund, for its part, stated that its participation is intended to increase the number of professional local fund managers capable of finding and assisting emerging technology companies.
With the R300 million first close accomplished, Mamor Capital is scheduled to begin investing while continuing to raise funds for its R550 million final aim.
The new fund contributes to ongoing efforts to attract more institutional financing to South Africa’s technology sector, particularly those that can combine commercial development with larger economic benefit.
