Venture capital funding is slowly growing in South Africa and Africa. Venture capital funding has been important for many new local businesses, especially in the fintech industry. For African start-ups’ venture capital funding allows them to grow in an environment that provides funding and business support.
Venture capital funding is aimed at helping new businesses that showcase potential for long-term growth. The person putting in the money is known as a venture capitalist. Venture capitalists prefer to invest in businesses that are already operating (making money) and will typically provide funding as well as business advice. However, if your start-up concept is strong enough, you can get venture capital funding.
Many people are unaware of how many new businesses have been growing due to venture capital funding. So, this article will provide you with a list of venture capital-funded businesses in 2024.
Before we list the venture capital-funded businesses, let’s look at the funding stages of venture capital funding. Knowing the stages will give you insights into where the funded companies are in their business journey.
Venture Capital Funding Stages
There are seven stages of venture capital funding. The stages are as follows:
Pre-seed Stage
The pre-seed funding stage is the earliest stage of venture capital funding. During this stage, the investors (venture capitalists) will provide your start-ups with funding. This funding is used by the start-ups to develop products. Typically, the funding is equity-based.
Seed Stage
The second stage of venture capital funding is the seed stage. During this phase, the funding provided to startups is focused on product-market fit. This means that the product is developed so that it addresses a need for a specific target market.
Series A Stage
The Series A stage is typically where most venture capitalists prefer to invest. During this stage, the funded business is in the process of optimising the business for long-term success and profit. This stage is also where equity/stock is sold to the investors (venture capitalists).
Series B Stage
Series B stage funding is for businesses that are already past the development stage. The funding provided by venture capitalists is used to expand the market reach of the business. For most venture capitalists, this is the second stage of funding which comes with an increase in investment.
Series C and Beyond Stage
This stage is where businesses are looking for funding to develop new products and enter new markets. The funding can also be used by businesses to acquire other companies. Typically this stage is for late-stage venture capitalists.
Mezzanine Stage
The Mezzanine stage is for companies looking for funding for expansion or those ready to make an initial public offering. A public offering is when you sell equity shares or other financial instruments to the public in order to raise capital.
Exit Stage
This stage is where businesses will make their initial public offering. This is still considered a funding stage because the money received from selling equity shares is used to expand the business and its operations.
These are the funding stages in the venture capital industry. Now we can take a look at which businesses received venture capital funding in 2024.
Venture Capital Funded Businesses in 2024
Pargo
Pargo is a tech start-up that specialises in logistics and last-mile distribution. The company allows consumers and companies to send and receive parcels at various pickup points which are located at retail stores across Southern Africa.
The company recently received $4 million in venture capital funding. Pargo was funded by UW Ventures, SAAD Investment Holdings, 3 Capital Ventures and Tsing Capital.
Grid Africa
Grid Africa is a solar energy solutions company based in Johannesburg. The company seeks to provide solar technologies which enhance energy efficiency and reduce costs. Grid Africa received $3 million in venture capital funding this year. The company was funded by Rifuwo Energy Partners.
Happy Pay
Happy Pay is a buy now, pay later platform. The company offers consumers the option of splitting their purchases equally over two payments. Happy Pay offers interest-free repayments and requires no deposits.
This year, Happy Pay received $2 million in pre-seed funding. The funding was provided by Equitable Ventures, Felix Strategic Investments, DotExe Ventures, Launch Africa and 4Di Capital.
Omnisent
Omniscient is a data solutions company based in Cape Town. The company’s data collaboration platform enables businesses to discover, validate and commercialise new alternative sources of consumer behavioural data. The platform allows to do this without having to exchange data or share the personal information of consumers.
The company received $8 million in series A funding this year. The funding was provided by Investec, Shoprite Holdings, Kepple Africa Ventures, Tahseen Consulting and Compass Venture Capital.
PAIX Data Centres
PAIX Data Centres is a data centre and telecommunications solutions company that provides cloud and carrier-neutral colocation data centre services in Africa. The company enables its customers to connect to a range of telecommunications carriers, cloud platforms, Internet service providers and other customers.
This year, PAIX Date Centres received $30 million in venture capital funding. The funding investment was made by Africa50 and Charlotte Lawrence.
Open Access Energy
Open Access Energy is a Cape Town-based company. The company’s multilateral wheeling software platform automates the matching of generation and consumption loads. This allows energy wheelers to execute accurate wheeling transactions easily.
Open Access Energy received $2 million in seed funding in August this year. The investment was made by Factor[e] Ventures.
TurnStay
TurnStay is an online travel and fintech company that helps African-based travel companies take bookings from anyone and anywhere in the world. The company provides its customers with country-optimised (specific) checkout pages making it easier for non-African travellers to make travel plans in Africa.
TurnStay received $300k in seed funding this year. The funding was provided by Digital Currency Group and DFS Lab.
Orca Fraud
Orca Fraud is a fraud-tech company that leverages its knowledge of fraud prevention and payment technologies to develop solutions to safeguard financial systems. The company uses artificial intelligence to develop its fraud prevention solutions.
Orca Fraud received $550k in pre-seed funding this year. The investment was provided by Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Musha Ventures, Norrsken22, First Circle Capital and Kara Ventures.
These are some of the companies which received venture capital funding in 2024. All these companies are based in South Africa and leverage technology to develop their solutions, systems and products.
If you want to be selected for venture capital funding, look closely at these companies. See how they innovate and leverage technology for their businesses. By observing them and following in their footsteps, you will see closely how to build your business for venture capital funding.
If you need purpose-driven mentorship, visit SME Advice to speak to one of our experts.
