Funding

Sanari Capital Raises US$28m In First Close Of New Fund To Invest In Growth Stage African Firms

Story Highlights
  • Private equity firm Sanari Capital has announced a first close of R475 million (about $28 million) on its Sanari 3S Growth Fund known as Sanari 3SG. The firm focuses on investments in growth companies emanating from Africa with regional and global scalability and exposure.

Sanari chief executive Samantha Pokroy believes the milestone recognises Sanari’s purpose-led approach, built on experience and its particular brand of “inventive, disciplined investing” that attracted significant commercial capital to the fund.

“We appreciate our investors’ conviction and support for our approach to growth-stage private equity. We are excited to see pension funds stepping up to support the real economy and growth companies to achieve combined social and financial returns.”

At its first close, Sanari 3SG has received commitments from leading institutional investors, including the 27Four Black Business Growth Fund, RisCura (on behalf of various clients), and the National Fund for Municipal Workers, with good visibility of achieving its final close target of between R1.2 billion and R1.7 billion (about $100 million) in commitments.

Rory Ord, head of private markets at 27four, says, “We are excited to back Sanari. The team’s focus on addressing social and economic challenges through growth investments is closely aligned with our objectives of generating strong returns for our investors and broader social impact within South Africa. We believe we have supported the right partner to achieve this.”

According to a media release, Sanari 3SG will invest in established and growing companies in industries that benefit from its thematic focus areas and capitalise on its specialisation of investing in founder-run, owner-managed and family-owned businesses.

Named for Sanari’s proprietary framework for building businesses that are sustainable, scalable and saleable (3S), the fund is the manager’s second but the first targeting institutional investors.

Officially launching now, the fund has already deployed over 30% of its first close committed capital, with two investments warehoused before closing and a third investment in a fintech services provider to be announced shortly.

Edulife Group is the largest independent school group in South Africa’s Free State province, now embarking on a national expansion. Sanari describes Edulife as an example of an African solution for one of the continent’s most significant challenges: bringing accessible, affordable, relevant education to students across income levels on a sustainable and profitable basis, combining exciting growth prospects with rewarding impact.

Furthermore, award-winning LightWare LiDAR is a South African developer and manufacturer of micro LiDAR systems (remote sensing technology) for drones, robots, autonomous vehicles, IoT, and smart cities on a global platform with a halo client base.

Sanari partner and director Moushmi Patel says, “Sanari brings a unique experience set focused on unlocking digital and human potential for successful investment in today’s local and global context. The fund invests between R50 million and R200 million (about $3million and $12 million) in medium-sized and mid-market businesses, in either a single tranche or a series of capital investments, signalling our emphasis on supporting companies as they grow.”

Source
Venture Burn

Nichole Manhire

Is the media and brand manager at GFA News. She works very closely with editors and podcasters that contribute to telling the African business success story. For marketing and advertising send Nichole an email: nichole@getfundedafrica.com

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button