The funding round saw contributions from Sanlam Multi-Manager, a financial services company, and follow-on investments from Fireball Capital and the SA SME Fund.

The African Innovation Fund 3, which launched in August 2024, is set to support around 15 startups.
The focus will be on early-stage, revenue-generating tech companies that originate from Africa and show promise for regional or global expansion.

HAVAÍC managing partner Ian Lessem welcomed the new and returning backers. He said their involvement reflects confidence in HAVAÍC’s ability to deliver strong returns while contributing to social and economic development by investing in African startups.

Sanlam Multi-Manager’s head of private markets, Sanan Pillay, highlighted HAVAÍC’s strong performance in the local tech investment space, especially its ability to help businesses scale and expand beyond Africa.

Claudia Manning from the SA SME Fund praised HAVAÍC’s disciplined investment approach and effective portfolio building. She emphasized the firm’s commitment to investor relations and startup growth.

The second close aligns with two recent investments by the fund. In July, HAVAÍC led a $1 million round for SAPay, a fintech company digitizing transactions in South Africa’s taxi industry.

It also provided a second $1 million investment in Sportable, a company specializing in sports data and analytics, to support its bridge to Series B funding.

These investments follow earlier deals in the first quarter of the year, which included NjiaPay, a Pan-African payment platform, and SwiftVEE, a fast-growing platform for livestock trading.

With this latest milestone, HAVAÍC continues to expand its role in Africa’s growing venture capital ecosystem, supporting startups that aim to scale both locally and internationally.