Secha Capital Partners has announced the first close of its second fund, Secha Capital Impact, a Southern Africa early-stage operations-focused impact private equity fund.
The ZAR400 million (US$30 million) Secha Capital Fund II builds on the success of Secha’s highly differentiated inaugural fund, and will invest up to ZAR12 million (US$730,000) into established Southern African SMEs for significant minority equity stakes.
Complementing growth capital with human capital, the impact investment model aims to solve key pain points and accelerate growth in the small business sector.
“Fund one was always proof of concept: Can we complement growth capital with human capital to solve SME pain points and accelerate growth? Our portfolio data is a resounding yes. It is now time to replicate and scale this investment model across Africa. We need to grow the Secha team to help more SMEs,” said Secha Capital co-founder and managing director Rushil Vallabh.
“We find and fund SMEs that others do not. We write smaller, but more impactful checks and then get Africa’s best and brightest to actually join the SME team.”
Secha Capital II expects a final close in October 2021.
